Hyundai Inster 2026 review: Standard Range long-term | Part 2

Tragedy strikes, as our Inster from chapter one gets side-swiped.

Thankfully, not while I was driving it, and also, the damage, mechanically, was fairly minimal even though the torn-off bumper looks a bit dramatic.

Read More About Hyundai Inster

• Hyundai Inster 2026 review: Extended range long-term | Part 1
• Hyundai Inster 2026 review: Extended range long-term | Part 3
• Iconic hot hatch could be revived in Europe

The price separating the two cars? Just $3500 with the main difference being the battery size.

The regular Inster we’re hopping into has a 42kWh battery, which according to the more accurate WLTP standard offers 327km of driving range, while the Extended Range gets a 49kWh battery pack, offering a 360km range.

However, the Extended Range also comes with bigger wheels, and can optionally have the brown houndstooth interior the previous car had.

I kind of prefer the black pack interior on the Standard Range model we've substituted into, and I even think you’re better off with the smaller wheel and larger tyre package, as it makes the ride noticeably more comfortable and probably contributes to additional driving range despite the smaller battery.

There is also a slight difference in the tune of the electric motor, with the Extended Range scoring slightly more power to compensate for its modest weigh increase. For what it’s worth, the increase in power is barely perceptible due to the change in weight.

I do wonder what the point of having both grades is in Hyundai’s range, as the battery sizes and even the prices are so close together. It’s not as though anyone considering even the more expensive version of the BYD Atto 1 at $27,990 is going to be convinced to buy an Inster at nearly $10,000 more.

Then again, there are some things which you should be thinking about at this entry-level part of the EV market.

For example, as alluded to in my first chapter, the underpinnings of the Inster feel far more sophisticated than pretty much any city car I’ve driven in the past, with robust steering and good suspension calibration. And there are finer technical details which should make this car age better than some of its contemporaries.

The primary one is its liquid-cooled battery, where the Atto 1 gets only an air-cooled unit (with some assistance from the air conditioning). If you’re not across the differences, liquid cooling is generally associated with much better battery ageing over time. The older-generation Nissan Leafs (Leaves?) and Mitsubishi Outlanders had air-cooled units which cut their range in half after 15 or so years.

Plus, the relatively tame tech in the Inster is actually to its benefit. Sure you can get bigger, fancier screens and software in a whole list of new Chinese cars at this price point, but a lot of them are quite annoying to use in the real world.

For all its last-gen visual appeal, there’s something to be said for simple software and an array of physical buttons and dials which just work.

Back to the difference between the two Inster grades, and I’m quite surprised to find I don’t miss the Extended Range version at all.

I’m using the Inster in a way I assume it was intended to be, either as a city-exclusive vehicle, or as a second car. In the midst of a fuel crisis, it’s very nice to be able to hop into something and not have to think about how much it is costing you just to drive to the shops which are otherwise just outside of walking distance.

I prefer driving the Inster anytime I’m in or around the denser parts of the city where I know parking will be at a premium. It’s great to leave my personal Forester, or any other vehicle I might have on loan which is larger, at home when I know I’m going to be hunting for kerbside parking.

In this context, the Extended Range version of the car starts to make less and less sense. I’m doing comparatively so few kilometres and charging so infrequently despite the lesser range. When it comes to charging, Hyundai’s spec sheet earmarks an impressive 120kW charging ability, but the fastest I’ve seen, even on a 150kW stack is around 70kW. With such a small battery though, you turn around and it’s half charged.

It won’t be convenient on a road trip, perhaps, but most people buying this diminutive hatch as a second car won’t notice because they’ll spend most of their time charging it seamlessly overnight.

Other benefits of the Standard Range include better ride quality, as previously mentioned, and still plenty of pep, with the lack of weight (for an EV) and skinny tyres making it chuckable around corners. It also uses a bit less energy. I’m seeing 11.4kWh/100km on the dash, compared to the Extended Range, which was doing closer to 14kWh/100km.

As to what others are thinking of the Inster, it’s a real love/hate divide, with the styling make-or-break for family and friends who seem to either love it or hate it.

Nobody is a fan of how plasticky the interior feels, however I’m yet to receive a complaint that the screens are too small…

In good news for me, the Extended Range version will be returned to me for next month’s chapter after being repaired.

I did 457km in the Standard Range, only needing to charge it twice, and get this, according to my calculations, I was going to get exactly the claimed range of 327km from a full charge. I don’t think that’s happened before.

Tune in next month for our farewell chapter and video.

Acquired: March 2026

Distance travelled this month: 467km

Odometer: 5207km

Average energy consumption this month: 11.4kWh/100km