Revealed and detailed: Hyundai Insteroid concept is Korean car-maker’s fastest and most extreme EV yet
Hyundai has unleashed its all-new Hyundai Insteroid, a wild battery-powered hyper-hatch concept that pinches its powertrain from the mighty 478kW Ioniq 5 N.
Unwrapped at the Seoul motor show, the Insteroid looks like it began life as a little Inster EV but under the skin features a sawn-off version of the brand’s much-bigger E-GMP platform.
That explains why it’s bigger in every direction and its Inster top-hat body needs rally-style wheel arches to accommodate the wider footprint of the car.
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While its name is a blend of Inster and steroid, the new Hyundai EV draws inspiration from the gaming world.
That explains its huge 21-inch alloy wheels, bespoke front splitter and bumper, massive rear diffuser and its triple-layer F1-style rear spoiler that features a drag-reduction system (DRS).
Other active aero includes electrically-adjustable wheel-arch extractors, while the charging port has been relocated to the rear window.
The rear ’23’ decals, meanwhile, are a reference to how many times the ghost-like cartoon character ‘The Boost’ appears on the car.
Within, there’s no denying the Insteroid’s race car intentions. There’s a pair of bucket seats, a harness and full cage plus a set of delightful retro dials that broadcast the speed, lap time and power boost.
The steering wheel gets a Boost button as well as a Race, Track and Go button.
The Insteroid gets its own Drift Mode and speakers within the tail lamps at the rear of the car that emits driving sounds.
New tech includes 3D knit fabrics that is made from recycled yarns.
As already mentioned, instead of the 71-85kW the standard car produces from its single e-motor, the wild and unhinged Hyundai concept pumps out 478kW and 770Nm from its dual-motor powertrain.
In the pocket-rocket Insteroid that should translate into a 0-100km/h sprint of around 2.0 seconds.
What’s missing from the quickest Hyundai ever is the tell-tale N badge that signals the involvement of its high-performance division and that’s because Hyundai N has had nothing to do with the Insteroid.
Instead, the Insteroid has already been ruled out for production, with little chance a Hyundai N version is in the pipeline.
Instead, it will be used as a tool to keep younger buyers enthused about Hyundai’s future EVs.
