Hyundai N boss wants to make a small, light electric performance car 鈥 could an Inster N be on the horizon?
July 11, 2025 by Jamie Edkins
Car changing is a big deal
We sat down with Joon Park 鈥 boss of Hyundai鈥檚 N division, to have a chat about the future of electric performance cars.
Hyundai recently revealed the new Ioniq 6 N, an electric performance saloon with 650hp and a drift mode for maximum hooliganism on the track. It joins the Ioniq 5 N as the brand鈥檚 second electric performance car, and we went along to the reveal in June to see it in person.
While we were there we had the opportunity to sit down with Joon Park 鈥 the man in charge of the brand鈥檚 N Performance division 鈥 who told us he wants to build smaller, lighter and more agile EVs in the future.
Will there be a Hyundai Inster N?
It鈥檚 a good question, because Hyundai has come up with a couple of concepts over the last few months which would suggest it鈥檚 planning to give its smallest, cutest electric car the full N treatment.
In late 2024 it unveiled the RN24 鈥 a mad-looking concept which shares the Inster鈥檚 proportions and a bit of its front fascia. It鈥檚 what Hyundai calls a 鈥渞olling laboratory鈥, which is essentially a test bed for future technology, just like the RN22e which foreshadowed the Ioniq 6 N.
It鈥檚 been developed using the Ioniq 5 N鈥檚 dual motor setup and Hyundai鈥檚 10 years of experience in the world of rallying to create a 650hp drift machine, and it鈥檚 designed to test some new control software which mimics the handling characteristics of an i20 rally car.
Fast forward a few months and we got the Insteroid concept, another bonkers-looking thing based on the Inster. It was just a design exercise, but one which ignited fresh hope that a beefed-up Inster was on the horizon.
A production version of the Inster N wouldn鈥檛 look quite this insane, but it could share design elements such as the bonnet vents and a toned-down version of the wing. We鈥檝e created some exclusive images to show what this dinky electric hot hatch could look like.
We asked Park if a Hyundai Inster N was coming, and he said: 鈥淭he rolling lab shows possibilities and future direction, and the direction I want to go is to lighter, agile, nimble EV performance cars.鈥
鈥淏ut as for Inster N, the RN24 looks similar because we used the smallest car鈥檚 front fascia and the rear design theme. The Inster design components show that we want to have a small (performance) EV.鈥
The RN24 concept is actually slightly bigger than the Inster because it packs in the Ioniq 5 N鈥檚 battery 鈥 although it鈥檚 actually 鈥渇olded in half鈥 in this car to make it fit. An actual small performance electric car from Hyundai wouldn鈥檛 share parts from other, larger models as the main focus would be to make it lighter. But it won鈥檛 be easy, as Park explains.
鈥淎 small car with a small battery and proper performance takes a lot of investment to develop, and we need to take several more steps to develop a car like this with the proper powerband as well as the proper pricing.
鈥淏ecuase I love smaller and lighter cars, if we can can make a lighter EV then we can offset all of those EV haters comments.鈥
So Hyundai is dead set on reversing the stigma that electric cars can鈥檛 be fun, and a smaller, lighter EV hot hatch could be on the cards in the coming years. It just won鈥檛 necessarily be a hot version of the Inster.
Hyundai not turning its back on petrol power
When Hyundai discontinued the i20 and i30 N hot hatches, many people took that as a sign that petrol-powered performance models from the brand were dead.
Park told us he has both a Hyundai Elantra N, a saloon car sold overseas with a 2.0-litre petrol engine, as well as an Ioniq 5 N, and he enjoys both power options.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not limiting ourselves to only EVs,鈥 Park told 莲花直播 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know where that came from, we didn鈥檛 say anything about going 100% EV.鈥
He told us that he thinks people assumed after the Ioniq 5 N was revealed that internal combustion N cars were no more, but it seems that Park is a devoted petrolhead who doesn鈥檛 want to turn his back on fossil fuels just yet.
There鈥檚 no word on when, or if, a new petrol-powered N car could come to the UK. The Elantra N saloon soldiers on elsewhere in the world, but that鈥檚 unlikely to come to our shores. Perhaps the i30 N could make a comeback with a cleaner engine.
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