‘All bark, no bite': Insane price for tiny EV

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13 hours ago

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The Hyundai Inster Cross is a tiny little thing that has a lot of attitude. Like one of those yappy little pocket mutts that thinks it can take on Rottweilers and Blue Heelers at the dog park.
The range-topping version of the Inster is a $45,000 plus on-roads proposition, meaning you're going to be shelling out more than $50K to get this minute commuter into your driveway.
2025 Hyundai INSTER Cross. Picture: Supplied
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While it might have cutesy design and cool cleverness inside, that's a huge price for something so small. You could choose any number of more practical SUVs for similar money, or less – the MG S5EV stands out, or the BYD Atto 3.
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But if you're drawn to the design (understandable) and can work within the parameters of this car (questionable), it could be a delight to live with.
The Cross version has a heap of great spec and tech, including heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, climate control with a heat pump, and even vehicle-to-load charging, which can allow you to power appliances using the car's battery.
It's not the biggest battery in the class, with a claimed driving range of 360km for the Cross model with the sunroof. There's also a version with a roof basket that has just 293km of range.
But unlike some cheaper EV rivals, this one has fast charging on its side. The AC rate is up to 10.5kW, meaning recharges in about 4 hours using three-phase power. Public charging capability is good too, with 120kW charging speeds meaning you should be able to get from 10-80% in 30 mins.
2025 Hyundai INSTER Cross. Picture: Supplied
2025 Hyundai INSTER Cross. Picture: Supplied
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It's a zippy, urgent feeling thing to drive thanks to instant torque. It pulls away from traffic lights and slips into traffic gaps with ease, and the Cross model gets a clever urban-friendly inclusions like a surround-view camera system and a blind-spot camera display, too.
But some of the safety tech is, frankly, shitful. There's a driver monitoring camera system which incessantly chimes at you when you're using any of the screen tech, while the speed sign recognition and warning system is painful. You can turn those things off if you're chime-triggered like me, but it's tedious to do each time you get back in the car. (And yes, there is a mute button to shut the overspeed warning up, but the car will still chime to tell you that you've entered a new speed zone… sometimes even if you haven't!)
While it drives great at pace and in town over bumps and lumps, be mindful that it can feel a bit bigger than it is when you're trying to do a speedy U-turn or parking in a tight spot, as the steering weights up at low speeds, and its long-ish wheelbase means it doesn't have the smallest turning circle for such a little car.
2025 Hyundai INSTER Cross. Picture: Supplied
2025 Hyundai INSTER Cross. Picture: Supplied
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Now, it is little, and it's only a four-seater. Plus there's no spare wheel.
But if you're okay with that, there's a clever sliding second-row bench system, and in the Cross you can flatten the seats so you can camp inside… if you're small.
The cabin design is lovely though, especially with the Dark Grey + Amazonas Khaki interior trim – no cost with some exterior colours, and speaking of which, the Amazonas Matte Green paint is a $1000 extra.
And while the tech is decent (thankfully, there are lots of buttons!), the media system doesn't include wireless smartphone mirroring. So you gotta plug in, and you have to keep a cable sitting messily in front of the passenger.
Otherwise though, there's reasonable cabin cleverness, aside from the cupholders - which are integrated into the front 'not-actually-a-bench' seat. You won't want to bump your coffee down there!
Look, this is an interesting thing, but more of a novelty than an actually convincing electric car option for a pragmatic customer.
All bark, no bite, then?
3.0 stars
2025 Hyundai INSTER Cross. Picture: Supplied
Hyundai Inster Cross
PRICE: From about $51,000 drive-away
POWERTRAIN: Electric motor, single-speed transmission, FWD
OUTPUTS: 84kW/147Nm
BATTERY: 49kWh NMC
ENERGY CONSUMPTION: 15.1kWh per 100km claim, 15.5kWh per 100km on test
BOOT SPACE: 280 litres
SPARE: Tyre repair kit
Originally published as 2025 Hyundai Inster Cross review