As much as we’d love for Hyundai to bring its ultra-compact Inster EV Stateside, the brand’s battery-powered lineup in the US is already pretty robust, with the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, and Kona. But we may not make it to the new year without the Insteroid. We need it. Right now.
The Hyundai Insteroid concept is an Inster EV notched up to 11. The moniker “Insteroid” is a combination of “Inster” and “Steroid” (Hyundai must have used top men to come up with that one), and designers took influences from gaming—likely from Need for Speed or Midnight Club—to create the final look.
Photo by: Hyundai
Visually, the Insteroid has huge Group B rally vibes—think Renault 5 Turbo or MG Metro 6R4. Dramatically flared wheel arches just out from either side of the body, a roof scoop sucks air into the battery (?), two unique wheel designs with circular spokes adorn the wheel wells, and there’s a massive carbon-fiber rear wing out back for good measure.
Lightweight lattice structures make up the exterior body panels. It’s all finished in a bright white paint with bright orange accents to give the Insteroid an eye-catching color scheme. It even maintains many of the production Inster’s retro eight-bit cues, like the headlights and taillights.
The interior, meanwhile, is stripped down to be as light as possible. There are bucket seats, a roll cage, a custom instrument cluster with specific drive modes… and that’s about it. That said, there is a special drift mode that works in conjunction with the Beat House audio system to pump out tunes while simultaneously pumping out tire smoke.
Photo by: Hyundai
Photo by: Hyundai
Photo by: Hyundai
Performance is a mystery. But given the Interoid’s dramatic looks and drift mode function, we assume there’s more power on tap here than there is on the normal Inster EV. The production version has a 49.0-kilowatt-hour battery pack and a single electric motor making just 115 horsepower.
Hyundai debuted the Insteroid at the Peaches D8NE (Dowon) cultural space in Seoul’s Seongsu neighborhood this week. The concept will be on display in Seoul throughout the next few weeks. Unfortunately, it’s extremely unlikely to ever hit the road as a production car.
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Source: Hyundai