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We’re lastly attending to the enjoyable a part of automakers’ methodical quest to copy their lineups with electrical automobiles.
Efficiency variations of peculiar automobiles have been a staple of the auto trade for many years. However whereas we’ve already seen some variants of EVs boasting extra energy and extra spectacular stats — suppose Tesla Mannequin S Plaid or Lucid Air Sapphire — the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is the primary to actually apply that format to an EV.
The Ioniq 5 N isn’t only a sooner Ioniq 5. It has extra energy, sure, however it additionally tries to copy the visceral really feel of internal-combustion Hyundai N efficiency automobiles — proper all the way down to simulated gearshifts and engine sounds. These novel options additionally assist justify a steep base worth. At $67,475, the N is $8,700 greater than a completely loaded dual-motor Ioniq 5 Restricted.
Design
Hyundai utilized the anticipated efficiency automobile visuals to the Ioniq 5’s distinctive form. Flared wheel arches widen the automobile by 2.0 inches and make room for girthier summer season efficiency tires mounted on 21-inch cast aluminum wheels. The N sits 0.79 inch decrease than a regular Ioniq 5, additional eroding Hyundai’s declare that this can be a crossover SUV moderately than a sales-kryptonite hatchback.
The N additionally sports activities aerodynamic appendages like entrance and rear spoilers, in addition to a rear diffuser that stands out thus far that it makes the N 3.2 inches longer than a regular Ioniq 5. All of those components are practical, serving to to optimize airflow over the physique, Hyundai claims. The identical goes for the outstanding air intakes lower into the entrance bumper, which assist present cooling air to the battery pack and motors.
Hyundai utilized the anticipated efficiency visuals to the Ioniq 5’s distinctive form.
What you may’t see are the structural reinforcements that assist make physique extra inflexible, which improves dealing with by offering stiffer mounting factors for the suspension. The physique shell options 42 extra welding factors and 6.9 toes of added structural adhesive. The motor, battery pack, and steering rack mounts have been additionally strengthened. So whereas aftermarket tuners could finally discover a solution to replicate the N’s energy, it is going to be tough to match this manufacturing facility sizzling rod’s strong construction.
Inside modifications embrace a steering wheel with added buttons and paddles to manage the varied drive modes and options, seats with added bolstering which are mounted 0.79 of an inch decrease for higher weight distribution, and a middle console with kneepads that retains small gadgets from being flung concerning the cabin throughout onerous cornering. Extra importantly, the N has the identical the passenger and cargo area as the usual Ioniq 5 which, whereas not class-leading, nonetheless makes this a sensible on a regular basis automobile.
Tech
The Ioniq 5 N can be a sensible on a regular basis automobile as a result of a lot of the tech options carry over from the usual Ioniq 5. A 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 12.3-inch touchscreen are organized aspect by aspect to make one steady show spanning roughly half the dashboard. Wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are customary, together with Wi-Fi, digital key performance, and the Hyundai Pay in-car fee system.
The screens do a bit extra work than in the usual Ioniq 5, as a result of there’s much more data to be displayed. The instrument cluster can toggle from the extra fundamental format of the usual Ioniq 5 to an N-specific format that exhibits motor and battery temperatures, in addition to settings for steering, suspension, and energy output, amongst different issues. The principle touchscreen can present entrance and rear torque distribution, the quantity of throttle or brake the driving force is utilizing, and lap instances.
Many of the tech options carry over from the usual Ioniq 5.
This automobile’s deal with efficiency doesn’t imply you get much less driver-assist tech, both. Commonplace options embrace lane-keep help, rear cross-traffic alert, Hyundai’s trademark blind-spot digital camera system, adaptive cruise management, a Freeway Driving Help 2 system with automated lane centering, and a sophisticated rear occupant alert system that makes use of radar to detect actions as delicate as a child’s heartbeat, Hyundai claims.
All the driver aids might be simply deactivated by switching to one of many track-oriented drive modes, so that you gained’t be getting forward-collision warning alerts as you strategy a braking zone at excessive speeds. And having all of them obtainable for street driving provides to the N’s on a regular basis usability.
Driving expertise
Fed by an enlarged 84-kilowatt-hour battery pack (in comparison with 77.4-kWh for the usual Ioniq 5), the Ioniq 5 N’s dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain produces 601 horsepower and 546 pound-feet of torque by default or 641 hp and 568 lb-ft with the N Grin Increase perform, which is on the market for 10.0-second bursts. With N Grin Increase and launch management engaged, Hyundai estimates zero to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds and a 162-mph prime pace.
Like most electrical automobiles, the Ioniq 5 N doesn’t have a multi-speed transmission. However Hyundai determined to simulate the texture of the eight-speed dual-clutch gearboxes in its gasoline N automobiles with a function known as N e-shift, whereas N Lively Sound+ supplies an internal-combustion soundtrack. Each options present a extra acquainted expertise for EV newbies and, Hyundai claims, give the driving force extra suggestions by offering some the cues usually used to guage pace in a combustion automobile.
The Ioniq 5 N is the whole lot you’d need in a track-capable street automobile.
Hyundai staged the Ioniq 5 N media drive at California’s Laguna Seca Raceway, a observe made well-known for its appearances in Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport. N Lively Sound+ added to the online game really feel, in that it felt prefer it was programmed by sound designers for a type of video games. The substitute soundtrack felt overdone not due to the sounds themselves, which vary from an internal-combustion overrun crackle to simulated sonic booms, however as a result of there was an excessive amount of of it, as if the objective was to make the whole lot as dramatic as potential. The identical goes for the simulated shifts, which made acceleration really feel extra dramatic despite the fact that, due to the interruption of energy for every “shift,” we have been most likely going slower.
The added drama wasn’t essential. The Ioniq 5 N is the whole lot you’d need in a track-capable street automobile, offering an exhilarating expertise by itself. The assorted software-based features used to make it deal with higher (and compensate for this EV’s 4,861-pound curb weight) fade into the background; all you’ll discover is how unfazed the Ioniq 5 N feels as you cost into corners, erase pace with its spectacular brakes, and unleash the complete 600-plus-hp on exit. The Ioniq 5 N helps you to ignore the truth that it’s an EV and simply think about going sooner.
It was additionally straightforward to disregard the Ioniq 5 N’s electrical powertrain as a result of its efficiency didn’t degrade throughout our observe session. Warmth buildup in battery packs could be a downside right here, however the Ioniq 5 N was unfazed. Hyundai has additionally tried to protect towards battery overheating with a preconditioning system, much like what’s generally used to get batteries into the best temperature window for charging. Hyundai even lets drivers select between settings for brief sprints or longer observe classes, a part of a protracted record of settings that covers the whole lot from drag racing to drifting.
Dial the whole lot down, and the Ioniq 5 N can be a usable street automobile, albeit one which’s simply biding its time till the subsequent journey to the racetrack. Trip high quality is in need of really snug, however affordable for on a regular basis use. And whereas exact steering and well-sorted suspension preserve a number of the leisure issue on twisty roads, it’s tougher to disregard this automobile’s appreciable weight at road-legal speeds. Some automobiles are pleasurable it doesn’t matter what pace you’re driving, however the Ioniq 5 N actually wants a racetrack to be appreciated.
Vary and charging
The N’s less-aerodynamic form and grippier tires imply that, regardless of the bigger battery pack, it has much less vary than different Ioniq 5 fashions. Hyundai estimates 221 miles, in comparison with a finest ranking of 260 miles for non-N dual-motor fashions. Hyundai nonetheless expects the Ioniq 5 N to finish a ten% to 80% DC quick cost in the identical 18 minutes as different Ioniq 5 fashions, although, assuming yow will discover a 350-kilowatt charging station that permits the automobile to cost at full energy.
For our observe session, we began with a roughly 90% cost and noticed an indicated 58% throughout our cooldown lap, which adopted about 20 minutes of lapping. That’s concerning the typical stint of a observe day, but when we’d gone again out, vary would have probably been a difficulty — particularly if we’d been driving dwelling afterward. That’s as a result of ,whereas the Ioniq 5 N can cost quick, not each racetrack has high-power quick chargers.
Constructing chargers just isn’t an enormous deal. Hyundai has already put in some at a observe in South Korea to help a racing collection for the Ioniq 5 N. However as with common public charging, it stays to be seen whether or not automakers will step up and guarantee there may be satisfactory infrastructure for purchasers to get essentially the most out of their EVs.
How DT would configure this automobile
The Ioniq 5 N is offered in a single configuration with all of the bells and whistles. In contrast to another efficiency sub-brands, Hyundai N doesn’t go away any necessary {hardware} on the desk, or make consumers pay further for the highest-performance specs. The N additionally consists of a lot of the main tech and comfort options from the usual Ioniq 5. So whereas it’s an enormous step up in worth, you do get so much to your cash.
For those who don’t plan on taking your automobile to the observe, although, the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT (with the non-obligatory Efficiency Improve) or Tesla Mannequin Y Efficiency each supply sporty driving dynamics for much less cash than the Hyundai. Each additionally supply extra vary than the Ioniq 5 N, and are just a few tenths of a second slower within the zero to 60 mph dash. Neither is as hardcore because the Hyundai, however the variations will solely come out in conditions that require a helmet and the signing of a waiver.
The Ioniq 5 N appears higher as an electrical various to internal-combustion efficiency automobiles. It’s barely cheaper than a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, for instance, far more sensible, and continues to be participating to drive. It could seem to be an odd comparability, however that is what the Ioniq 5 N is all about. It wasn’t designed to be the perfect EV for everybody, it was designed to be the perfect EV for individuals who love automobiles and driving. Mission completed.
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