Hyundai Inster spawns race car concept inspired by video games

Days after releasing a teaser of the Insteroid, a one-off race car concept based on the Inster EV, Hyundai unveiled the car in Seoul, Korea, on Tuesday. The electric car features rally-style bodywork and a stripped-out interior, taking inspiration from video games.

1. Brand’s signature pixel-theme is applied to roof and rear wing
2. Soft White exterior shade gets orange highlights
3. Front wheels get aero cover; rear wheels have turbine shape

Hyundai Insteroid exterior

Enlarged air dam ahead boosts air flow

A pixel pattern on the roof, under the doors and rear wing references Hyundai’s current design language. Save for the round LED headlights and pixel tail-lights, everything appears new over the standard Hyundai Inster. These include a broad and boxy body kit, a roof scoop and a massive WRC-style double-decker rear wing. Even the otherwise sealed-off front bumper gets gaping air dams for an increased air flow. Turbo fan-like rear wheels improve aerodynamics, just like the louvered fins on the bulging-out wheel arches. The wheel pair ahead gets aero covers with three circular holes.

Hyundai Insteroid interior

Boost, Track and Mode buttons on steering wheel

A roll cage inside is reminiscent of Hyundai’s 2024 RN concept and hints at the electric vehicle’s track focus, in addition to deep-set bucket seats and a hydraulic-style handbrake. Its dashboard is devoid of a touchscreen but gets a driver’s display with a few buttons below it. Dedicated Boost, Track and Mode buttons are present on the steering wheel, which also gets four LED dots representing ‘H’ in Morse code. Hyundai has also placed graphics of Space Invader-style aliens throughout the cabin. For audio duties, it’s fitted with a Beat House system featuring a tube-style amplifier.

Hyundai Insteroid performance

Likely to be more powerful than Inster EV 

The 2025 Insteroid reveal follows the RN24 concept, which aims “to fit the most powerful EV powertrain into the smallest possible package”. The RN24 prototype uses a 650hp-AWD setup borrowed from the Ioniq 5 N, which goes from 0-100kph in 3.4 seconds. Power is sourced from an 84kWh battery pack yielding 447km of range. Technical details of the Insteroid have not been made public yet; the regular Inster EV comes with 42kWh (with 97hp motor) and 49kWh (with 115hp motor) battery options, which offer up to 370km range.

Hyundai Insteroid launch in production-spec

The all-electric Insteroid concept car will be showcased from April 3 to April 13 at the Seoul Mobility Show to gauge interest from the public. Whether the Insteroid concept will culminate into a production car is not known. Hyundai product planning boss Paolo Gnerro earlier told our sister publication Autocar UK that further variants of the Inster would be considered “in the life cycle” of the model – but also that any such models would need to be demanded by customers. A beefed-up Hyundai Inster Cross model is expected to arrive in international markets by 2026. 

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