Image Credit: Captain Electro.
Have I got a nugget for you today... The automotive world has been waiting with bated breath for the next big thing, and Hyundai stepped forward. At the Brussels Motor Show, the company has pulled the covers off… a spaceship. Or a toaster. I'm struggling to tell, really. This is the all-new Hyundai Staria Electric. To me, it resembles a puffer fish that's just got an audit letter from the IRS. It's swollen, it's smooth, and it's staring at you with a rather startled expression.
Don't get me wrong, I love a bit of madness. Hyundai gave us the absolutely bonkers Ioniq 5 N and 6 N - cars that can rearrange your internals with a tap of the throttle. But with the Staria, they seem to have decided that the family hauler should look like a failed science experiment from a 1980s sci-fi series. And yet, in a world of boring, boxy SUVs, I can't help but smile at it. It's got buckets of character, this wee beastie.
Image Credit: Hyundai.
The first thing you'll notice - apart from the fact that it looks like it came from Saturn - is the "one-curve" silhouette. It's incredibly clean. There's a single light bar stretching across the hood like a confused Cylon, and because it doesn't need a grill to cool a thirsty engine, the front is smoother than a polished curling stone.
Hyundai calls this design theme "Inside-Out." It sounds like a horrific medical procedure, but it actually means they designed the cabin first and wrapped the metal around it later. The beltline is lower than a snake's belly, which means the windows are absolutely massive. The visibility is fantastic - you can see everything - but on a sunny day, the air conditioning is going to be working harder than a one-armed bagpiper.
Image Credit: Hyundai.
If you're buying a van, you're buying it for space, and the Staria Electric has plenty of that. It sits on a nice flat floor, offering more room than a Dublin pub on a Tuesday morning. It comes in two flavors: a seven-seat "Luxury" model for families who enjoy not touching each other, and a nine-seat "Wagon" version for shuttle drivers or people who haven't figured out how televisions work.
The seven-seater gets fancy heated and cooled seats in the second row - very posh. The nine-seater is the real workhorse, though. You can slide and fold the seats to fit an impressive amount of luggage. With the seats adjusted just right, you get up to 46 cubic feet of storage space behind the third row. That's enough for the weekly shop, the dog, and maybe a small pony.
Image Credit: Hyundai.
Until this point, it was going pretty well for the new Staria, but here is where things go a bit pear-shaped. You see, this is a big, heavy van. It's aerodynamic, sure, but it's still a brick. So, you'd expect a massive battery and a motor that could pull a castle, right? Wrong. Hyundai has fitted it with an 84 kWh battery. That's probably fine. But for a vehicle this size, it's a bit like bringing a sandwich to a banquet.
Hyundai claims it can travel up to 249 miles on a full charge. That's on the WLTP cycle, which is conducted in a fantasy land where hills and wind don't exist. In the real world, at highway speeds, that range is going to drop to around 180 miles. If you're planning a family road trip across the States, you'd better pack a lot of patience and a deck of cards.
Image Credit: Hyundai.
And the motor? Oh boy. It's a single electric motor driving the front wheels, and it is rated at 218 horsepower. For a van carrying nine people and luggage? That's not just modest; it's bordering on rude. Some Chinese electric vans have 500 horsepower. The Staria isn't slow per se, but let's just say you won't be winning any drag races. Hyundai says it provides "smooth power," which sounds like a code for "don't be in a rush."
Thankfully, Hyundai has an ace up its sleeve. The Staria uses the same brilliant 800V charging architecture found in the Ioniq 5. This means if you can find a fast DC charger that actually works, you can juice the battery from 10 percent to 80 percent in about 20 minutes. That's genuinely quick. Just enough time for a coffee and a restroom break before you're back on the road, praying for the next charger to be within 120 miles.
Image Credit: Hyundai.
Why 120? Because you are replenishing only 70 percent of the battery - that's 126 miles out of 180 or about an hour and a half of driving. That's right - I had to write it down, then look at it three times before I realized the new Staria is a torture device. You have to stop every 90 minutes to charge it up, which will take another 20 minutes if you're lucky. Can you imagine a road trip with this thing? What were they thinking? Or, rather - what were they smoking?
Inside, the dashboard is dominated by two 12.3-inch screens - one for your gauges and one for the infotainment. It's got wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is grand. They've also included Vehicle-to-Load (V2L), allowing you to plug in a laptop or a coffee maker. It's a brilliant feature for camping, provided your campsite is close enough to a DC charger so you don't run out of electrons getting there.
Image Credit: Hyundai.
Surprisingly, the new Staria is quite a capable towing rig. Hyundai claims a capacity of 4,409 lbs. In theory, you could pull a decent boat. But towing a two-ton trailer with only 218 horsepower is going to be an exercise in misery. And your range? It'll plummet faster than a stone in a well. You'll be lucky to get 100 miles before needing a plug.
The Staria Electric is set to launch in the first half of 2026. Hyundai hasn't announced the price in dollars yet, but given the tech involved, expect it to cost a fair few pennies - probably enough to make your wallet make a run for the border.
It's a strange one, this. The lack of power is a real letdown for enthusiasts, and the range is just a joke. The only scenario that works is shuttling people around the city in quiet, futuristic comfort. To some, it's plain weird - I say it's unapologetically different. It'll probably make a half-decent taxi. But a family hauler? Not a chance... Unless your road trips are to the pond in your backyard.
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