New Hyundai Inster Cross review: tougher looks at a price that's hard to swallow
The Inster Cross has even more appeal than the standard car, but it's difficult the justify the higher price
Verdict
The Hyundai Inster Cross ups the cartoonish appeal of this already quirky and remarkably spacious city car with its rugged styling. Even so, the near-£29k list price seems exorbitant given that a range-topping Renault 4 costs about the same but has a far more impressive interior, better tech and a longer range. Hyundai’s very generous discount addresses this, but that won’t last forever.
Some people might not recall The Hobbit films that came out a couple of years ago, but one memorable moment was Bilbo Baggins excitedly shouting “I’m going on an adventure!” as he skips out of The Shire, totally unprepared for the challenges of Middle Earth. I bring this up now because the new Hyundai Inster Cross looks like it could do the same thing at any moment.
This off-road-inspired version of Hyundai’s Hobbit-sized electric city car doesn’t have four-wheel drive or locking differentials like an actual 4x4, mind you. It’s simply designed to offer a bit of rugged charisma in a dinky package perfect for tackling the congested streets of major cities, which ironically are clogged up with people driving enormous 4x4s.
Styling tweaks over the regular Inster include chunkier front and rear bumpers, additional cladding, skid plates and special 17-inch black alloy wheels. The Inster Cross is also available in an exclusive Amazonas Green colour, or there’s the Aero Silver matte finish our test car was sporting. This combined with the black visor across the front makes the car look like RoboCop.
The interior features a unique colour scheme, but it’s dreary grey with some lime-yellow accents on the dashboard and fabric seats. Personally, I much prefer the funky beige and khaki brown interior with houndstooth seats in other versions of the Inster. Partly because it helps distract from the fact that every surface in this car is made of hard plastics.
The dual 10.25-inch displays and overall solid build quality prevent the Inster Cross from feeling too cheap inside. However, the Renault 5 and Renault 4 have far more sophisticated and all-round higher-quality interiors. Their Google-based infotainment system is also several leagues ahead of the Hyundai's previous-gen set-up. I found the Fiat Grande Panda has a much more exciting and characterful cabin as well, thanks to its bright colour scheme and unconventional material choices.
At least the Inster Cross is impressively versatile for a small car. The boxy shape and clever packaging provide an astounding amount of headroom and ample legroom for six-foot-tall adults to sit comfortably in the back, as I can attest. The rear seats can also slide forwards by up to 16cm. This expands the boot capacity from an okay 238 litres – about the same as a MINI Cooper’s – to 351 litres, which is more than you get in the Citroen e-C3.
Hyundai even designed a special roof basket exclusively for the Inster Cross, which would be handy on a weekend camping trip. Unfortunately it’s not available in the UK because the mechanism for the openable sunroof (which is standard-fit here) would apparently hit it. You can fit a third-party roof box or carry bikes on the roof, though and the max load weight is 75kg – on par with the latest Dacia Duster.
The driving experience is the same as the regular Hyundai Inster. It’s nippy off the line and the 113bhp electric motor driving the front wheels doesn't start to run out of puff until you go beyond about 40mph. Visibility is great, it rides well at low speeds, the powertrain is remarkably efficient and the one-pedal driving mode is fantastic for dealing with stop-start traffic. The 10.6-metre turning circle could be better, though.
But while the Inster Cross is a fun car to look at, it’s not so much fun to drive on a twisty road. The steering, for instance, isn’t as precise as a Renault 5’s, and rivals also feel a tad more refined on the motorway.
My biggest gripe though is that, despite the litany of buttons scattered across the dashboard, not one of them can turn off the car’s various driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and their irritating bonging. That all has to be done via the touchscreen and involves navigating through several complicated menus, which is distracting enough even before the attention-monitoring system starts telling you off for not looking at the road.
It wouldn’t be hard for Hyundai to fit an easily accessible switch for deactivating the ADAS suite. Perhaps in place of the one the Inster Cross does have for turning off the traction control, because that’s the only thing that might be used less than the Sport mode in this car.
We’ve come to expect that any car that’s even SUV-ish will attract a price premium, but the Inster Cross starting from £28,755 is still rather excessive. For one thing, it’s £2,000 more than the mid-range 02 spec that most buyers are probably going to go for, and puts this little EV within a few thousand pounds of the Skoda Elroq, which is a proper, family-sized electric SUV.
Luckily, Hyundai is currently offering £3,750 off the price of every new Inster, matching the maximum amount of the Government’s Electric Car Grant. Combined with other discounts, the Inster Cross is currently available from just £24,505, which is far more reasonable. However, the price cut is only set to last until the end of September, so buyers mustn’t dawdle.
| Model: | Hyundai Inster Cross |
| Price: | £28,755 |
| On sale: | Now |
| Powertrain: | 49kWh battery, 1x e-motor |
| Power/torque: | 113bhp/147Nm |
| Transmission: | Single-speed automatic, front-wheel drive |
| 0-62mph: | 10.6 seconds |
| Top speed: | 93mph |
| Range: | 223 miles |
| Max. charging | 85kW (10-80% in 30 mins) |
| Size (L/W/H): | 3,845/1,610/1,610mm |
Deals on the Hyundai Inster and rivals
