Hyundai has been on a fun kick recently, exploring ways to embrace the EV revolution, and create novel, compelling, and sometimes weird new concepts.

They’ve also been super-powering their regular electric lineup with special edition models.

The latest incarnation of this is the Insteroid, the high-power and high-intensity version of their subcompact Inster EV, which is going on sale in many parts of the world.

However, this concept takes all normalcy, and dispenses with it. Indeed, It looks like a playful sketch from a comic book or graphic novel.

Gone are the soft, rounded edges. The Insteroid is boxy, bold, and armed with exaggerated flares, LED light bars, and futuristic cladding that turns the tiny crossover into a design-forward urban beast. There’s even a cheeky, oversized “Drift Mode”, activated with a huge orange handle—because why not?

Inside, the cabin continues the concept car drama, with racecar-like controls and an oversized sound system that they call the Beat House. There is even a rear Message Grid bumper for personalised interactions.

Meet the Insteroid, a wildly reimagined version of the Inster, cooked up by Hyundai’s own designers as a playful concept.

Think of it as the Inster’s wild alter ego—the one that drinks neon and drifts sideways through futuristic cityscapes.

The wheels look like DJ dials, and the overall vibe is aggressively playful. Hyundai’s marketing calls it a “glitch in the car industry”.

Just a concept for now, Hyundai says they plan to bring this wild little ride to market in small quantities.


Discover more from Moss and Fog

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Author

Ben VanderVeen is the founder and editor of Moss & Fog, one of the web’s longest-running visual culture destinations. Since 2009, he’s been finding and framing the most beautiful, surprising, and thought-provoking work in art, architecture, design, and nature — reaching over 325,000 readers each month. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

3 Comments

  1. Clayton A Cryer

    Re the Hyundai insteroid, was intentionally designed to be ugly? No matter how novel it is, it I still UGLY!

  2. Michael

    Front resembles ’50’s Ford f100 pickup.

  3. Pingback: Monday, April 7, 2025 – Flyover North Carolina

What's your take?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from Moss and Fog

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading