First look at new Hyundai Inster: cheap electric city car to target Citroen e-C3

The Dacia Spring and Citroen e-C3 better watch out, because the brand-new Hyundai Inster is getting ready to muscle in on their cheap EV turf. The all-electric city car is set to offer a range of up to 220 miles and could start from around £22,000.

Hyundai’s entry-level EV will be unveiled on 27 June at the Busan Mobility Show in South Korea, and to tide us over until then, the brand has shared some official teaser images.

Even without these pictures, however, we already had a very clear picture of what the Inster looks like because it’s an electrified version of the Hyundai Casper – a small SUV that’s sold exclusively in South Korea with petrol power. 

The Casper’s boxy shape, very short overhangs and comically large circular headlights have all been carried over, but the Inster also features new square pixel indicators and rear lights, which are a signature of Hyundai’s other electric cars, like the Ioniq 5 and Kona Electric. 

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Other details we can pick out include roof rails and a chunky front bumper, which will help give the Inster a SUV-esque look, while the car’s charging port will be in the nose for easy access and the interior will feature a fully digital instrument panel.

Hyundai has stated that the Inster will be “a new reference point for popularizing electric vehicles” as the zero-emissions city car “will set new standards in terms of driving range, technology, and safety features, redefining what buyers can expect from a vehicle in this class.”

For comparison, the Dacia Spring costs from £14,995 and has a maximum range of just 137 miles, while the Citroen e-C3 has a starting price of £21,990 and can go 199 miles on a charge. The price tag for the Inster probably won’t come close to the Dacia’s, but we expect it will match the Citroen while offering more range.

In case you’re curious, Hyundai says the Inster name is derived from the words "intimate" and "innovative", but also a nod to the Capser. In Korea, the new model will simply be sold as the Casper Electric.

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