2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Is a 641-HP EV Built for Track Rats
After months of teasers and prototype drives, Hyundai has finally pulled the wraps off its first-ever electric performance car, the 2024 Ioniq 5 N. It gets a new battery and two motors delivering 641 hp, along with a host of clever hardware and software updates to ensure consistent track capability.
The Ioniq 5 N is far more than a reskinned Ioniq 5 with a more powerful drivetrain. The entire car has been transformed with the goal of delivering more smiles to the driver.
Of course, the powertrain remains important. The 77 kWh battery pack has been swapped out for a new 84 kWh unit that, according to Hyundai, occupies the same geometric space as the outgoing pack. The extra capacity comes from better battery chemistry. The battery is connected to two electric motors—one for each axle—with the rear equipped with an electronically limited-slip differential lifted from the Elantra N, strengthened to handle the extra torque. The result is a claimed 0-60 time of 3.4 seconds, and a top speed of 161 mph.
To help keep things cool, there's a new setup that sees the battery and e-motors get their own radiators, along with a new, stronger water pump. There's more cooling going to the brakes, too, and up to 0.6 g of deceleration available from regenerative braking alone, meaning the brakes don't have to work as hard to slow the Ioniq 5 N.
Hyundai's gone as far down as the body in white to supplement the added thrust. There are 42 extra reinforcement points and 6.8 feet of extra adhesives added to the chassis, mostly near the motors, batteries, and subframes. The suspension's been reworked, and the steering rack has been replaced with a faster unit with more mounts to the body. The steering geometry is unique to this car, and the car's suspension knuckles are new.
The Ioniq 5 N's body has been made 1.9 inches wider to accommodate 21-inch forged aluminum wheels with specific 275 section-width Pirelli P Zero tires. They shroud four-piston 15.7-inch brakes up front and one-piston 14.1 inches in the rear—the biggest set of brakes from Hyundai on a passenger car, ever.
Other changes to the car include body-color fender flares, a rear spoiler with a motorsport-inspired triangular central brake light, specific bumpers, contrasting black trim, orange accents, a diffuser, and a rear window wiper. Inside you'll find a new steering wheel with paddle shifters and buttons for drive mode and to activate the "N Grin Boost" function, which allows the driver to access the maximum available power for a short amount of time. There's also specific bucket seats and a new center console with built in knee pads and shin support.
You're probably wondering: Why are there paddle shifters on the steering wheel if the Ioniq 5 N has just one gear? Hyundai says it wants to give the driver a better connection to the car through more levels of feedback and interaction, and to that end, it's developed a system called N e-shift. Switch N e-shift on, and the Ioniq 5 N takes on the attributes of a car with an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, with all the same sounds, torque curves, and cuts in power between shifts. A total of 10 speakers mounted throughout the car play a synthetic engine sound, while a tachometer shown in the digital gauge cluster revs to 8000 rpm as you accelerate.
That's not the only piece of clever software found in the Ioniq 5 N. There's also a host of battery pre-conditioning systems developed specifically to counter battery degradation in high-performance settings. There are options for drag racing or driving on road courses, and further options for setting hot laps or doing 20-minute sessions, all of which set the battery to a specific temperature to deter power loss throughout. Hyundai says the Ioniq 5 N can lap the Nürburgring twice before exhibiting any battery degradation.
What Hyundai has yet to publish is the Ioniq 5 N's estimated range. The new battery can charge at up to 350 kW, going from 10 to 80 percent in just 18 minutes. Hyundai says the N is heavier than the standard Ioniq 5 thanks to all of the extra equipment, but did not give exact weight numbers. We expect range to be somewhere in the low 200-mile zone.
Hyundai also neglected to release pricing for the Ioniq 5 N, though we expect it to cost about as much as a new BMW M3. The car will make its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, happening July 13-16.
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