As you may have heard, Hyundai is working on a performance-oriented version of its popular Ioniq 5 crossover. The Ioniq 5 N will launch in 2023 and will be by far the most powerful car Hyundai has ever made. Unsurprisingly, it will easily eclipse the 271 bhp i30 N in terms of performance.
Hyundai executive and former head of the N performance division, Albert Biermann, recently stated the following (via Drive Australia):
“It will be much faster (than the Hyundai i30 N). How could it be slower? It has almost 600 horsepower [441kW]."
However, when asked about an exact power figure Biermann remained coy:
"It’s not finalized, it could be 580, 600, 620 horsepower [427kW, 441kW, 456kW]. It’s a lot.”
Mr. Biermann also mentioned how handling and driver enjoyment are more important than 0-60 times and power output. Furthermore, he talked about artificial noises and their importance in enthusiast EVs.
“Faster doesn’t matter. It’s about grin, heartbeat. The question is how much fun is it? How big is your grin?
When I joined the company we talked a lot about cutting noise, now we talk about adding sound to electric cars to give the driver a nice feeling, some excitement. As for the ‘popcorn’ sounds, it is hard to mimic a dynamic explosion in a combustion system using only audio speakers inside the cabin. Sound is important, of course, but it's not the whole game.”
The Ioniq 5 N should have very similar specs to the chassis-sharing Kia EV6 GT. This means AWD, a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds and around 580 hp. Expect a starting price of $60-65k as well, although that's just a rough estimate from us. Biermann also confirmed that the Ioniq 5 N will undergo special Nürburgring testing and have different brakes to the less powerful versions that are currently on sale.
