2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5N the (very) hot hatch goes EV
M3-humbling power in an electric hatch? What fun!
Illustration: Andrei Avarvarii
ELECTRIC SHOCK
While the world waits for the likes of Porsche (2024’s electric Cayman and Boxster) and Ferrari (its battery-electric supercar is due in 2025) to prove that driving bliss can be electrified, Hyundai is steaming in with the e-hot hatch of your dreams/ nightmares. Spied in testing and due on sale in 2023, the Ioniq 5 N is expected to offer nearly 600bhp and all-wheel drive – think Group B, but in a retro-futuristic mega hatch.
HOW MUCH?!
The Ioniq 5 N is the spawn of two key performance EVs, Hyundai’s RN22e and Kia’s related EV6 GT. Both use a high-performance version of the group’s allconquering E-GMP platform, with all-wheel-drive traction, a beefy 77.4kWh battery, 577bhp of shove (good for a 3.5sec 0-62mph time in the EV6 GT) and a twin-clutch torque vectoring system to boost fun (and likely offer a drift mode).
DON’T CALL ME CUTE
The Ioniq 5’s polarising style will get the N treatment to ready it for (very quiet) trackday action. The N sits lower and wider than the standard 5, and will get uprated brakes to deal with all that mass and performance. Giving the car something like the dynamic flare and grace of the i30 N and (US-market) Elantra N won’t be easy, but N has the pedigree to pull it off. Just don’t expect the lightweight feel of an old-school hot hatch.
DEVILISH DETAILS
Baby-blue paint is a given, as are lightweight performance wheels wearing sticky rubber. But there’ll be clever stuff too, like an uprated cooling system to boost performance repeatability and unique settings for Hyundai’s N Sound+ synthesiser, which will gift your hooliganism a suitably raucous soundtrack. The regen will also be tuned to provide left-foot braking without involving your left foot…
NEED TO KNOW
- What is it? Hyundai’s breakthrough EV given the Kia EV6 GT treatment
- Tech? Most likely a high-performance variant on the current E-GMP set-up, although Hyundai is exploring many EV possibilities for the future
- Aimed at? VW Golf R and Mercedes-AMG A45 S owners
- When can I have one? In 2023, priced around £60k