Automotive Engineering - February 2025 - 28

A week with the
HYUNDAI WAY
The Hyundai Inster is a city EV that will not be sold in North
America but will appear in most of the rest of the world.
The automaker's wide-ranging approach to future
powertrains was furthered with the unveiling of the
Initium concept. Named for the Latin word for " first "
or " beginning, " the Initium previewed Hyundai's new
" Art of Steel " design language, but for automotive engineers,
the more interesting aspect is the third-generation
fuel cell stack under the hood. Unfortunately,
Hyundai did not provide precise details about this new
stack, but it did say that it would be an improvement
over the second-gen stack used in the 2018 Nexo,
which has a power density of 3.2 kW/l. The 2013
Tucson FCEV was at 2.09 kW/l. The production
Initium's stack durability will be increased by 40%
compared to the stack used in the Nexo.
Thanks to these improvements, " large hydrogen fuel
tanks " and low-rolling-resistance tires, the Initium will
have a range of over 650 km (404 miles). The maximum
motor output will be 150 kW, and the FCEV will
offer up to 100 kWh of vehicle-to-load (V2L) off-board
power with full tanks, around a ten-day supply for a
typical Korean home, Hyundai said. A navigation system
with an FCEV-specific route planner will also be
available when the production version arrives in the
first half of 2025.
Hyundai Inster First Drive
While the Initium remained a bit of a black box,
Hyundai's latest all-electric vehicle was fully available
for a day's driving in and around Seoul. The Hyundai
Inster is an all-electric version of the South Koreanmodel
Casper, an ICE model. The Inster retains the
Casper's cute looks and uses either a 42-kWh pack in
the Standard Range model or a 49-kWh pack in the
Long Range version. Both can charge from 10 to 80%
full in 30 minutes when connected to a 120-kW fast
28 February 2025
The Initium will have a range of over 650 km (404 miles) and will use a motor with
a maximum output of 150 kW.
The Inster is an all-electric version of the ICE-powered Casper.
charger and will provide either 300 km (186 miles) or 355 km (221
miles) of range, respectively, on the WLTP scale. The Inster has an 11
kW on-board charger and has external and internal V2L (vehicle-toload)
ports. The voltages differ between the Short Range (266 V)
and the Long Range (310 V)
The Inster is 3,825 mm (150.6 in) long, 1,610 mm (64.4 in) wide and
1,575 mm (62 in) with a 2,580-mm (101.6-in) wheelbase. Like the ICE
Casper, the Inster uses Hyundai's subcompact K1 platform, which has
been around since 2017. It's clear from the driver's seat that it doesn't
provide the same refinement as Hyundai's EV-specific E-GMP platform.
Still, with McPherson struts in front and coupled torsion beam
axle-type struts in the rear, the Inster is more than capable of providing
enjoyable driving in the city. The biggest downside of the Inster is
that it lacks any serious acceleration capability, with the Standard
model's 97-kW motor offering a 0-100 kmh (62 mph) time of 11.7
seconds and the Long Range model's 115-kW unit cutting that to a
still-bad 10.6 seconds in the model. This is a massive miss for a new
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
ALL IMAGES: SEBASTIAN BLANCO
Automotive Engineering - February 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive Engineering - February 2025
