The Hyundai Staria, depending on the market, offers petrol, diesel and hybrid power. Now, it looks set to get an electric option.
In images shared by Autospy, we can see a Staria prototype with a largely closed-off grille area that incorporates a charging port.
It also features the headlights of the Korean-market Staria Lounge, with each cluster containing eight rectangular elements. The prototype is finished in a two-tone paint scheme.
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While the presence of a charge door suggests this could also be a plug-in hybrid, a separate video by Healer TV shows there’s no fuel filler door.
The video also reveals one major and unusual change to the Staria: its truncated rear end.
While from the front to the C-pillar it appears largely the same as combustion-powered and hybrid Staria models, the rear overhang has been significantly reduced.
The Korea Economic Daily in June 2024 reported Hyundai would produce the Staria EV in Europe from the first half of 2026, selling the battery-powered people mover not only there but also in Asia-Pacific markets such as Australia.
It’ll reportedly use an 84kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NCM) battery with 324km of range.
It’ll give Hyundai a rival to European electric people movers like the Ford E-Tourneo and Volkswagen ID. Buzz.
There’s also a growing number of electric people movers from China, including the LDV MIFA 9 and Zeekr 009.
The electric Staria appears to have supplanted the previously mooted hydrogen-powered version.
Hyundai confirmed back in 2021 it aimed to introduce a hydrogen fuel-cell (FCEV) version of its Staria during 2023, but it never eventuated.
The Staria is currently offered in Australia with either a naturally aspirated 3.5-litre V6 petrol or 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engines, like the related Kia Carnival.
However, Hyundai has yet to confirm the hybrid for our market, which would take on the Kia Carnival Hybrid.
The Staria Hybrid is powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder hybrid powertrain with a 180kW power output – a more powerful version of the drivetrain offered in the Carnival.
In Australia, the Staria is outsold by the Kia Carnival by a significant margin, like every other people mover.
Kia sold 10,080 Carnivals in 2024, of which 691 were hybrids; the electrified version launched during the year.
Hyundai, in contrast, sold 1363 Starias, still good enough to make it Australia’s second best-selling people mover.
The Staria is also available as a cargo van, which was the second best-selling vehicle in its segment behind only the Toyota HiAce (3503 vs. 12,082 sales).
