Brand New Hyundai INSTER 85kW Cross 49kWh 5dr Auto

Hyundai adds hiking boots to its little EV hatch. Jonathan Crouch takes a look at the Inster Cross.

Ten Second Review

Hyundai creates an adventure-themed little EV hatch in this car, the Inster Cross. Its natural habitat is Surbiton, not Snowdon, but for a bit of Bear Grylls in a small little EV, you might like it.

Background

You might think that the last thing anyone would want to do with a small electrically-powered shopping hatch would be to take it into the wilds. Hyundai though, seems to think there might be a market amongst people who imagine themselves doing exactly that and with this in mind has bought us this car, the Inster Cross. Even in its standard form, the Inster stands out on the high street and in this ruggedised Cross guise looks more unusual still. You can't help feeling that this wild variant was styled first, then de-contented to produce the ordinary shopping model. But is there really a market for a small EV that looks like it might be up for transporting insurgents from Fallujah? If there is, then this car could corner it.

Engines and Tech Spec

It's not surprising that this Inster Cross doesn't front up with the kind of twin motor 4WD powertrain those wild looks would suggest. The sort of thing that you might get on a fractionally larger, similarly targeted small EV - like a Volvo EX30 Cross Country for instance. It would have been nice though, if Hyundai had added a simple grip control system (like you can get on a Peugeot E-2008 for instance); or, at the very least, raised this car's ride height. None of this has happened. That does at least mean that EV driving range is unaffected. Unlike with the ordinary Inster, there's no option for a base 42kWh battery version; the Cross only comes in 49kWh form with a 115PS motor and 223 miles of EV range. Top speed is 93mph with 147Nm of torque and 0-62mph takes 10.6s. As with all Insters, there's a standard heat pump, which draws heat from the ambient air so that in cold weather, the climate system draws less on battery power. Expect the tall, glassy body to make urban manoeuvring easy. And there's the usual wide range of Hyundai standard camera safety features.

Design and Build

If you're somehow sold on the look of an Inster, then you'll probably love the adventurous look of this Cross version. Chunkier bumpers extend its length by 20mm (to 3,845mm), but what you'll probably notice first is the larger roof rails and the tougher-looking 17-inch wheels that sit in the squared-off black plastic-clad arches. There are front and rear skid plates with side rocker panels. And you can also specify an 'Amazonas Green Matte' paint finish that's exclusive to this Cross variant. Inside, the Cross is set apart by a unique colour scheme of grey cloth upholstery with lime yellow accents and fascia trim. Otherwise, it's just as in any other well specified Inster, with a pair of 10.25-inch dashboard screens for infotainment and instruments. As usual with this model, the front-of-cabin section has no centre console, creating a 'walk-through' design enabling passengers to get out on either side. The front seats merge into a kind of bench, with occupants separated by a fold-down armrest. There's also a fold-flat front passenger seat and rear seats that slide and recline, so you can prioritise either leg room or boot space. Almost all of the Inster's 180mm wheelbase length increase over its Casper donor model is to the benefit of rear passengers. Even tall folk will be able to relax behind other front-seated tall folk. And if the front passenger seat is folded flat, they'll be able to use it as a foot rest and imagine that they're in a limo. The rear door cards and front seats also feature attachments which can be used for a range of accessories - like a table, a wallet and a photo album. Where the sliding bench rear seat is fitted, boot capacity can vary between 238 and 351-litres.

Market and Model

The Inster Cross was ambitiously priced from launch at £28,755, £1,000 above the standard '02'-spec 49kWh model. Standard equipment includes all the exterior embellishments we mentioned in our 'Design' section - bespoke 17-inch alloy wheels, distinct front and rear bumpers, unique Cross side skirts and embossed black claddings, with body coloured door mirrors and exterior door handles. There's also a rear spoiler with integrated brake light, LED rear lights, automatic headlights with a dusk sensor, automatic windscreen wipers with a rain sensor, LED Daytime Running Lights, full projection LED headlights, heated door mirrors with power-folding function and roof rails. The spec also includes reclining and sliding rear seats, heated front seats and steering wheel, climate control single zone air conditioning, ambient lighting, an automatic dimming rear view mirror, privacy glass, keyless entry and an electric-opening glass sunroof. There's also front and rear parking sensors, a parking guidance system, Smart Cruise Control, a surround view monitor, a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and a 10.25-inch touchscreen display with navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The optional Tech Pack adds Vehicle-to-Load functionality with an internal three pin plug and a Digital Key. Safety kit includes Blind Spot Collision Avoidance Assist, a Blind Spot View Monitor, Forward Collision Avoidance Assist, Highway Drive Assist, Intelligent Speed Limit Assist, Lane Keep Assist, Lane Follow Assist and Parking Collision Avoidance Assist.

Cost of Ownership

We gave you the 221 mile EV range figure in our 'Driving' section; Hyundai quotes an efficiency stat of 15.1kWh per 100km. Let's get to the charging figures. The Inster Cross DC charges at up to 120kW and connected up to rapid DC charger, this Hyundai will recharge from 10 to 80% in around 30 minutes. At home, 11kW AC charging allows a full charge of the bigger battery in 4 hours and 35 minutes. The charge port is located in the nose. There's the option of 'Vehicle2Load' technology which enables you to plug in external devices to the car, like, say a camping lamp, or charging for an electric scooter or drone. Hyundai includes a heat pump across the line-up as standard to preserve the range of the nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries. There are the normal low BiK Benefit-in-Kind taxation advantages to buying an EV, along with savings in VED road tax and city congestion charges. As usual with a Hyundai, you can budget ahead with pre-paid servicing plans. Like all Inster models, this one comes with Hyundai's 5 Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty, an 8 Year/100,000 Mile High Voltage Battery Warranty, a 5 Year Annual Health Check, a 3 year MapCare navigation update program, a Roadside Assistance package, and a 12 Year Anti Corrosion Warranty. Rival brand Kia claims to better the five year warranty package by offering a similar seven year deal, but there, you're limited to 100,000 miles.

Summary

In Cross form, Hyundai's Inster becomes the car its creators probably always intended it to be. Whether this is the kind of car its customers want it to be is quite another question. What they certainly won't want is the premium price tag attached to this top variant, which becomes even more difficult to swallow when you learn that it doesn't get you 4WD or any kind of grip control system. It would be somewhat embarrassing slithering helplessly around in the snow in the depths of winter in a little car that looks like this. But it will look great in the gym car park or outside a trendy wine bar - which is really the point of this model. Ruggedised add-ons give the Inster's strange, chunky looks purpose and presence; and country dwellers who can be bothered to switch to all-terrain tyres in the colder months might create something useful for the snowy shopping run. The rest of us though, will wonder what the point of this car is.