Hyundai Inster review

Acceleration doesn't feel too bad. We used to be elated when a supermini could crack 10 seconds 0-62mph. OK, this one can't either, but it isn't far off, registering 10.6s. The lower-range car is 11.7s. The next bit, getting to 70, takes patience even in the 115bhp version.

Still, the pedal is well modulated and drive take-up is smooth, so when your main scope of operation is within the ring road, it's a really easy thing to get along with.

You can choose from three levels of regeneration, and after that the handover to the friction brakes is neat and well modulated.

And it’s comfy, you say?

Plenty. The suspension is on the soft side, which makes sense for this kind of car. The damping keeps pretty good control of things on undulating roads. In corners it rolls and squeals the tyres. Lots of small cars do that, but they give you a laugh because they let you feel the road through the steering and even adjust the course with what little power they have. Not so much here – the Inster is too numb and po-faced for our taste, and it’s best driven at a gentler pace.

That said it feels solidly built, with no shudder or flex, and the suspension is quiet. This makes the soft ride feel pretty sophisticated for a baby car. It’s very finished, not at all cheap. Only the wind noise betrays it – can get a bit irritating on the motorway, that.

Tell me about range and charging.

The WLTP range figures are 203 miles and 229 miles respectively for the smaller and bigger batteries in 01 spec. The 02, with its bigger wheels, forfeits six miles of WLTP. Expect these numbers to fall on motorways of course. But every Inster has a heat pump and battery heater, meaning you can pre-warm the battery when plugged in, so winter range shouldn't be awful.

Charge power is a little low, peaking at 73kW for the smaller battery and 85kW for the bigger one. That means half an hour 10-80 per cent, which sounds fine except that half-hour won't add ever so much distance. With the 01, you'd be back to 10 per cent in little over 100 motorway miles.

Is there any tech to speak of?

It comes with a full set of driver-assist and active-safety features. You don't expect adaptive cruise with lane centring on a car this small, but here it is, even on the base trim.

A neat option is Hyundai's system that puts a blind spot camera view into the instrument screen when you indicate – might be worth going for if you can afford it, the A- and B-pillars are quite thick, so visibility at junctions and over your shoulder is a little compromised.