Meet The Insteroid: Hyundai’s Wildest EV Yet

Hyundai just dropped a teaser for one of its craziest creations yet—the Insteroid. This one-off build takes the cute and practical Inster EV and turns it into something straight out of a video game. Even the name, a mashup of "Inster" and "steroid," hints at how extreme this thing is. Hyundai plans to reveal it in full in early April, but from what we've seen so far, it's anything but ordinary.

At first glance, you’d be hard-pressed to recognize the Insteroid as an Inster. The entire body has been transformed, with massive flared fenders inspired by the i20 N WRC rally car. There’s a giant rear wing, aero disc wheels, and a stripped-out interior with a full roll cage—clearly, this thing means business.

The teasers also show bright orange accents everywhere, from the seat belts to various trim pieces, plus a ghost logo that looks like it came straight out of Pac-Man. Inside, there are "Boost" buttons, track mode settings, and other performance-focused controls, hinting that this isn’t just a styling exercise.

Hyundai describes the Insteroid as a “glitch in the automotive matrix,” blending gaming aesthetics with real-world performance. The biggest question now is whether they’ve upgraded the powertrain. The standard Inster, based on the Casper, maxes out at 113 hp—not exactly heart-pounding. But if Hyundai really wants to go all-in, maybe they’ll throw in a dual-motor setup like the 641-hp Ioniq 5 N. If you ask us, the Insteroid looks like the kind of car that shouldn’t exist—but we’re glad it does.