► Hyundai Casper micro-SUV caught testing
► Now being tested in EV-guise
► Could be coming to Europe and the UK
Hyundai is looking to grow its electric offering in the European market, this time by importing a car previously only sold in the South Korean market. Called the Casper, the compact city car was snapped testing in Europe by our spy photographers – and it could be coming to the UK.
What is it?
The Casper is a minuscule crossover with the same footprint as cars such as the Volkswagen Up, Skoda Citigo or Fiat 500. Designed to meet South Korea’s ‘light car’ class, it’s currently powered by a 1.0-litre ICE sent through a four-cog transmission to the front-wheels. However, our spy photographers have spotted an electric version of the Casper, and its sighting in Europe points to an imminent EU release.
If Hyundai does pull the trigger, the Casper would be a strong competitor to city-slickers such as the electric Fiat 500 and the Volkswagen e-Up – cars it’s already being benchmarked against.
What does it look like?
The most up to date ICE variant of the Casper has already been revealed, and the electric prototype in these pictures appears to look very similar. Although heavily camouflaged, it’s possible to see bits and pieces of the forthcoming EV – and they look identical to the ICE Casper already in the public domain.
That’s no bad thing, though, because the Casper features an interesting, bold design to set itself apart from the competition. Featuring a robust-looking front-end, and bold large rear lights, it doesn’t scale the same heights as Hyundai’s Ioniq range, but it’s not exactly boring either.
For a possible cost of under £20,000 it’s sophisticated enough.
What platform will it run on?
The platform of Hyundai’s electric Casper remains to be seen, but there are two possible options. Either it could run on a modified version of its original ICE platform (possible given its low price) or it could use Hyundai’s award-winning E-GMP platform – albeit in a potentially in a cheaper and considerably smaller guise.
The Casper may appear for sale in the EU next year, but in the meantime, we’ll update this page when we know more.