Seats: 7 or 9
Range: 248 miles
Battery: 84kWh (total)
Introduction
Welcome to Hyundai’s biggest EV yet! Yes, that’s right – this is the Hyundai Staria. It’s even larger than the Hyundai Ioniq 9, but you could argue that this new electric MPV is less brash than its SUV sibling, despite being a whopping 5.3m long and 1.9m tall. That’s bigger than the long wheelbase ID.Buzz!
The curvy, blunt-faced styling has appealing retro vibes for anyone who enjoyed the Japanese people carriers that were popular in the ‘90s and ‘00s, and I actually quite like it even if it’s clearly a car focussed on being practical rather than sexy. Under the lights at Brussels Motor Show it actually looked cool in a futuristic, aerodynamic, space-travelling guinea pig kind of way.
Anyway, the Staria is a seven- or nine-seat electric MPV that will compete with the likes of the new Kia PV5 Passenger and the Citroen e-SpaceTourer, and even the VW ID.Buzz. A proper, sensible, space-conscious MPV! It makes a refreshing change from the posh SUVs, I’d say. The only caveat here is that it hasn't actually been conformed for the UK market. We've been told that it's likely to go on sale here, but we're still waiting on final confirmation.
Range, battery and charging
The Staria has been offered in different markets with a variety of powertrains, but we’ll only be getting the Staria Electric, complete with an 84kWh NMC total battery capacity. We haven’t had the usable capacity (which is the actual battery capacity that you’ll be charging and discharging) confirmed yet, but we’d estimate that it’ll be around 78kWh.
Official WLTP range is up to 248 miles for the Staria, but we haven’t driven it yet so you’ll have to come back for a real-world range when we’ve spent some time with it. Judging by the claimed range, it’d be fair to expect the big Staria EV to manage around 170- to 220 miles of range depending on conditions.
Charging is impressive, as the Staria gets the high performance 800V charging system that we’ve seen in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9, so it’s capable of a 20-80% rapid charge in around 20 minutes. You even get a heated charging port cover, located at the front of the car, so that you can access the port easily even if the car’s frosted up.
There’s also vehicle-to-load (V2L) charging as standard, which means that you can power your electric devices from the car’s high voltage battery. Useful for those family camping trips.
Practicality and boot space
There are two layouts to choose from in the Hyundai Staria. Family buyers will probably favour the Luxury, which gets a seven-seat layout, heated and cooled seats in the front and middle rows, and 435-litres of boot space behind the third row. Those seats are arranged with two, super-comfy, reclining seats in the middle, and a three-person bench in the back.
The Staria Wagon is likely to be popular with really big families or taxi drivers, as it gets a nine-seat layout, a bit less of a focus on comfort for the passengers. There are sliding doors on both sides (powered as standard on the Luxury model), and a huge tailgate to give the taxi driver maximum chance of not injuring his back when he lifts your suitcase in. There’s a huge 1,303-litre boot behind the third row in the nine-seat Wagon, too, which prioritises luggage space over passenger comfort, as opposed to the Luxury.
There’s much more focus on interior niceties in the Luxury, which offers enough leg- and headroom for six adults in genuine comfort even on longer trips, although you’ll want to put the kids in the third row as it’s a bit of a squeeze back there if you want to get three people across the bench. You can drop that rear bench flat, though, which is brilliant as it makes the Staria Luxury in a plush four-seater with a vast, van-like boot space – actually very useful for lots of family lifestyles.
So that’s what we’re dealing with, here: a proper, old school, practical MPV but – in the Luxury, particularly – all wrapped in some proper luxury finishes. There are also high-powered USB-C charging for those in the back, loads of clever storage solutions and the windows are huge so it feels super light and airy. It’s just great for anyone who wants maximum space and practicality, really.
I was really impressed with it, to be honest. I reckon that Nicki with her three kids would love this – there are so many thoughtful touches to make life a bit easier, but chiefly there’s just so much space!
You can also tow up to 2,000kg with the Staria EV, which is an impressive towing capacity, and betters that of the VW ID.Buzz.
There are also plans for a Staria campervan, and you can see the pics and read all about how fun that will be right here.
Interior, design/styling and technology
Once you’ve managed to clamber up into the cabin – you really do need the grab handles if you’re not very tall! The big touchscreen is really high set and easy to see, but this is the same software system that we’ve seen in a number of Hyundais and I do think it’s starting to feel a bit dated. Just feels like this may be one area where others have moved on in terms of graphis quality, but the actual menu layouts and usability is fine. There are also loads of buttons… Maybe too many? I know, I know. I’m never happy. Either complaining about too few buttons or too many. But there is a happy medium, and the big stack of buttons on the Staria’s dash does feel a bit much.
In terms of tech, I particularly like the live camera stream of the rear seats, and the ‘talk’ function that means you can amplify the driver’s voice into the back seats is also genius for when you want tell the kids to pack it in, and that we’re still not there yet.
Motors and performance
We haven’t driven the Hyundai Staria, but the lineup is very simple. You can have it with a 218hp electric motor that drives the front wheels, and that’s it.
Pricing and on sale date
Here’s the problem: The Hyundai Staria hasn’t actually been confirmed for sale in the UK, yet, but it does seem very likely that it will arrive here to take on the PV5, Buzz and other MPVs that are beginning to arrive on the market.
If it does come to the UK, I’d expect pricing to be very competitive. I reckon it’ll be closer to the PV5 than the Buzz, on pricing, meaning that it’ll be around the £35,000 - £40,000 mark. We’ll have to wait and see!
Verdict
I think there is space in the market for the Hyundai Staria. The two different models are very specifically targeting different buyers, and I suspect that there will be demand for an MPV with balance of value and versatility. I really do believe that we need more practical people-movers like this available on the UK market.
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