Hyundai Insteroid concept points to troubled Inster N development

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Ahead of this week’s Seoul Mobility Show, Hyundai revealed a wild high-performance concept of its Inster small electric SUV called the Insteroid at a private event in the South Korean capital.

Beneath the ’80s-inspired, rally car-esque design of the Insteroid sits the running gear of the 478kW/740Nm Hyundai Ioniq 5 N super-EV complete with dual electric motors and an 84kWh usable battery.

Hyundai is being coy about the purpose of the Insteroid, but senior executives involved in the rapid year-long development say the electric hot hatch is a “credible” product that reveals how Hyundai will seek to appeal to a younger generation of performance car buyers at a lower price point than the Ioniq 5 N ($110,383, before on-road costs). 

“They can’t afford the Ioniq 5 N, so let’s make a car for [younger buyers],” Nicola Danza, exterior design manager for Hyundai Motor Europe, told Chasing Cars at Insteroid’s Seoul reveal.

“We keep hearing that the younger generation don’t like cars and are not interested in cars. I don’t think that is entirely true. They are missing the right car to fall in love with.”

Insteroid and RN24 prototypes provide many hints

Chasing Cars understands that Hyundai has commenced development of a lower-cost high-performance EV. 

With the Insteroid concept, the Korean marque’s European design studio has led the early part of the styling effort, while the N performance car division was tasked with getting a working prototype of the running gear onto the track.

N Division’s part in the project was revealed in December 2024 when select media were invited to drive the RN24 prototype — short for N Rolling Lab 2024. 

While the RN24 has smaller wheels and tyres, lacks a roof and doors, it seems to share much with the Insteroid—including the powertrain. 

Think of the Insteroid as the next step towards a production model; the exoskeleton covered with an extroverted widebody extension of the Inster electric car’s basic shape. 

The Insteroid’s details are a European-penned homage to ‘80s hot hatch heroes like the Renault 5 Turbo and Lancia Delta Integrale.

The matte white and orange Insteroid wears huge 21-inch alloy wheels (with aero covers at the front) shod in sticky 295-wide (front) and 345-wide (rear) Pirelli tyres. 

We understand the wheelbase to be 2660mm, being between the Inster (2580mm) and Ioniq 5 N (3000mm).

Inside, sustainable materials trim bucket seats equipped with Sabelt harnesses. A racing steering wheel has “vital” physical controls and a set of prominent gauges showing speed, boost status and other readouts. 

A protruding handbrake triggers drift mode.

Like the Ioniq 5 N, the Insteroid generates true-to-life ‘engine’ sound. Positive feedback to the Ioniq’s noise generation emboldened Hyundai to make an external speaker on the Insteroid’s posterior more visible, while the soundtrack is a development of the Ioniq 5 N’s.

“We realised [sound] was a very good idea to carry on. This is the next step. Some years back [we became] afraid to show the exhaust because it means pollution but you don’t need to hide it anymore. It is just a speaker, so let’s proudly show it,” explained Danza.

Why is the Insteroid not a Hyundai N model…yet?

Exterior colourway aside, the Insteroid looks like an N car, quacks like an N car and apparently goes like an N car—the elephant in the room is certainly the question of why the Insteroid is not an N-branded concept.

The reason appears to be that the final production format has not yet been settled. While the RN24 and Insteroid are sibling prototypes, Hyundai isn’t ready to announce an Inster N—or any cheaper performance N car. But such an announcement is expected at some point.

“[RN24 and Insteroid] are two separate types of products. [N] produces real things, serious performance cars,” said Danza. “With this design concept, we wanted to look ahead to what comes next. If [N Division] can benefit from that later, even better.”

“It is a driving prototype,” Danza explained to Chasing Cars. “We used the Ioniq 5 N [powertrain] and e-GMP platform, shortened in the suspension area. For safety, you don’t want to [push] it too much. The capabilities are there, but I don’t think anybody would want to drive that way in a concept car.”

The problem is that, as Danza made clear, the younger generation to whom the Insteroid is designed to appeal cannot afford the expense of the ultra-sophisticated components found in the Ioniq 5 N—and which have been used to make the Insteorid prototype drive and steer. 

The Ioniq 5 N’s dual-motor setup includes substantial amounts of active cooling in order to provide sufficient stamina for 15-minute full-effort racetrack driving as well as ultra-rapid charging capabilities afforded by its pricey and large 800-volt battery packs.

As a result, we expect that a production version of the Insteroid would substitute in a less premium drivetrain, perhaps based on a cheaper 400-volt platform. The proportions of the Insteroid concept are rear-wheel drive orientated but a roadgoing Inster N could even be front-drive…

…except that Chasing Cars understands that a more affordable 400-volt EV platform imposes thermal management and charging speed compromises that N Division still isn’t comfortable accepting. N Division has openly debated this issue for a number of years.

And thus taking the Insteroid to production is at a stalemate until the problem of whether N can descend from the Ioniq 5’s sophisticated but very expensive 800-volt architecture to an adapted 400-volt platform that more buyers will be able to afford.

Hyundai’s intention is likely to be able to offer a high-performance Inster N (or other small electric N car) that is capable of attracting buyers who entered the ‘N’ fold via attainable combustion cars like the i20 N ($35,500) and i30 N (from $50,000, both before on-road costs).

Such a vehicle would give Hyundai the opportunity to compete with emerging affordable electric performance cars like the MG4 XPower, Cupra Born VZ, and Mini Cooper JCW.

If an appropriate compromise can be struck to allow an Inster N to enter production, it would naturally sit atop the line of Inster small electric SUVs that launch in Australia in May 2025 with pricing to commence below $40,000 for the 85kW, front-wheel drive standard range model.

“Like the off-road inspired Inster Cross derivate shown at Inster’s debut in 2024, [the] Insteroid is another step in the hot-selling production [Inster] model’s journey,” claimed Hyundai’s press release announcing the concept.

Once the Insteroid departs the Seoul Mobility Show, Hyundai plans to show it at “major auto events in key markets”. Whether that includes the next Hyundai Australia N track day remains to be seen.