Press play: Gamer-inspired one-off Hyundai Insteroid hints at possible N-honed Inster hot hatch
The unhinged 2025 Hyundai Insteroid has been teased ahead of its debut at the Seoul Mobility Show and from this first glimpse, the baby Inster-based EV might be the firm’s wildest EV yet.
The Hyundai Insteroid name is a play on steroid and explains its larger-than-life pumped-up looks.
The Insteroid boasts wider front and rear fenders, huge 21-inch wheels and motorsport-derived bolt-on parts, like the huge rear wing and diffuser.
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Designers admit to drawing influence from gaming and that’s why if you look closely, you’ll spot multiple cute Pac-Man Ghost graphics on the massive high-mounted rear wing, rear glass and dotted around the cabin.
Inside, the heavy motorsport theme continues. There’s a full roll-cage and race car-style steering wheel that features a Boost button and controls to select the various track modes.
There’s no word what drives the Insteroid, but expect the single e-motor that produces between 71-85kW in the standard car to have been dumped for a much mightier dual-motor set-up.
Likely to borrow much from the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N, we wonder if the small BYD Dolphin rival might pack as much as 478kW and 770Nm of torque.
If so, bank on a 0-100km/h sprint of around 2.0 seconds, although any production version is likely to feature a lot less power and be front-drive.
Hopefully, the Korean car-maker’s N performance division will make an announcement soon.
More of the Hyundai Insteroid will be shown off in the coming days in the build-up to its full reveal in Seoul on April 3.
In the meantime, Australians are being invited to register their interest for the smaller, more sedate, but still cute Inster EV that will soon land in Australian dealers.
Measuring in at just 3820mm long and 1610mm wide, the Hyundai Inster has been confirmed to come with either 42kW (Standard Range) or a larger 49kWh (Extended Range).
Both feature a single-motor, front-drive powertrain. The Standard Range gets a 71kW/147Nm e-motor and up to 327km (WLTP) range while the Extended Range gets more power (85kW/147Nm) and can travel up to 360km on a single charge.
