Hyundai Inster EV is an affordable and cute electric city car.The first teaser images for Hyundai’s Inster subcompact EV have been released. The cute looking Casper from Korea lends credence to this small electric car design, which looks just as adorable overall.
Hyundai is teasing a new subcompact EV called the Inster. It’s based on the cute Korean market Casper and might be one of the best small EV designs out there. However, it’s not clear if it will be available in our market. Europe is getting a Casper-based EV that might start below $22,000.
The name “Inster” comes from intimate, innovative, and Casper. Hyundai plans to reveal it in late June at the Busan International Mobility Show in Korea. But there are doubts it will come to the US. The Inster targets a 220-mile range on the WLTP cycle, used in Korea and Europe but not in the US. Also, Americans generally prefer larger vehicles.
The Insta looks tiny and is based on a Korea-only model designed without US regulations in mind. The Casper has a charming design with a mix of blunt-nosed aggression and oversized features. The Inster will likely have a similar shape but with sharper lights matching the Ioniq family’s digital pixel theme.
It would be great to see these cars here, but Hyundai might struggle to make them affordable enough for Americans who usually avoid small cars. With the Kia EV3 coming to the US, maybe small, affordable cars will finally catch on.
The good news is that the Casper is a delightful little design, with a bulldog-like mix of blunt-nosed aggression and adorable, comically oversized facial features. The teaser images suggest that the Inster will get the same overall shape, with pronounced roof rails working as a good accent. But it looks like the Inster will get sharper, more sophisticated front and rear lights, bringing it in line with the Ioniq family’s digital-pixel theme.
I’d love to see these on our shores, but I don’t know if Hyundai could make it cheap enough to overcome Americans’ well-documented aversion to small, cute cars. With the Kia EV3 slated to reach the U.S., though, maybe America can finally discover the joys of small, affordable car ownership.