The Hyundai Motor Group has a fantastic reputation for producing efficient, interesting and downright fantastic electric vehicles. In my testing, there are only a couple of car manufacturers which actually understand how to do electric cars correctly, that is Tesla, BYD and the entire Hyundai Group, which encompasses Hyundai, Kia and Genesis. Every EV from the Hyundai group I have tested has been great, with fast charging speeds, superb efficiency and interesting styling.

We need small, affordable EVs

Don't get me wrong, it is great to have these big luxury electric saloons and to some extent, sometimes the SUVs too. However, this isn't what the majority of the car buying public wants or even needs sometimes. What we need are small, affordable and clever electric cars. The new Dacia Spring has made some headlines for being the most affordable electric car on sale in the UK today. However, while it is cheap, it doesn't come without its flaws, such as the range and charging speeds. While you can argue that the Spring is perfect for city runarounds and as a second car, this use case is only for some people. A lot of people used to purchase a small car, such as the Volkswagen up! or the Dacia Sandero and use it for pretty much everything, holidays, school runs and long road trips. The Spring, while an impressive achievement isn't going to cut it.

Thankfully, we have started to see some more affordable EVs come to the market, such as the new Citroën ë-C3 and coming soon, the Hyundai Inster. Strange name aside, (yes it would've been great to see it called the Casper, like in its home market but ah well) the Inster is such a promising package. Hyundai are known for their funky designs, clever interiors and as of late, just great infotainment software, and seeing this come to a small, practical EV is just music to my ears.

Why is this so important then?

It is important because this is a small EV that is going to be a good price that can be as practical and useful as the small combustion cars that people used to buy, rather than a one trick pony like the Dacia Spring. The Inster has the capability to get more people into driving EVs and it has a really usable range. Hyundai are quoting 220 miles on a single charge and are offering 42kWh and 49kWh batteries. These are some good sizes given the dinky proportions it has. All the seats all fold flat to make it super practical too, aiding to its usefulness.

The Inster hasn't had any UK road tests yet and I look forward to driving one soon and making a video on our YouTube channel. In the meantime, the Inster is going on a tour around the UK to various Hyundai dealers, so make sure to book and check it out.