Future classic: Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

By Aaron McKay

| 4 Mar 2025

Classic & Sports Car – Future classic: Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

Approach most electric vehicles with the intention to really drive them and you’ll likely be disappointed.

Faced with multi-screen control panels and efficiency-minded driving modes, it can feel like more of a device to program rather than a machine to gel with.

Attempts to enliven this new age of motoring have generally been demonstrations of wacky styling or huge performance figures: great for the showroom, but not enough substance to endear the hearts of enthusiasts.

Clockwise from top: Hyundai’s N performance arm launched in 2017; ‘pixelated’ tail-lights; there’s no turbo ‘four’ under the bonnet, despite what the synthesised sounds tell you

Enter, then, some enthusiasts.

Hyundai has been on a roll lately, with cars such as the i20 N and even, from sister company Kia, a rear-drive sports saloon, the Stinger.

Now the ‘N’ performance division has stirred some soul into its angular electric hatch.

The Ioniq 5 N is lower, more aggressively styled and much faster, but its real triumph is breaking into the emotive aspect of driving.

Is the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N the first electric driver’s car?

‘It has clearly been conceived with the aim of entertaining, rather than mindlessly impressing,’ enthused Autocar. ‘The electric driver’s car has landed.’

It could have been an empty novelty, but the simulated gearbox and engine sounds are satisfyingly engaging, if not wholly convincing.

Instead of a silent, two-dimensional drive, suddenly you are controlling speed with the gears, judging throttle inputs by sound and – amazingly – having fun.

Clockwise from top: the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is packed with driving-mode options; comfortable seats; the N ‘Grin Boost’ button unlocks 641bhp

It helps that the 5 N is well set up, with finely judged steering and adaptive dampers on 20mm lower suspension dialling you in.

Slacken the traction control and a proper limited-slip differential at the rear extends another layer of involvement.

Those fundamentals make the whimsical edge to this car more acceptable: an N ‘Grin Boost’ button that bumps power from 601 to 641bhp for 10 secs; the ‘Supersonic’ sound effects in case the recorded turbo ‘four’ noises get boring; or the choice of selectable display graphics.

So is affiliating yourself with the driving-mode options – Autocar counts 972 combinations – because there are noticeable changes in character you’ll want to explore.

‘Instead of a silent, two-dimensional drive, suddenly you are controlling speed with the gears, judging throttle inputs by sound and – amazingly – having fun’

And that’s the key, isn’t it? Wanting to explore the driving experience is down to a feeling, and the 5 N inspires that: retro hot-hatch looks mixed with modern ‘pixelated’ lights, proper performance engineering – it has 42 additional welding points for rigidity – and the fireworks of its augmented-reality driving modes.

Familiar performance EV pitfalls remain – it’s as large as a new BMW M3, weighs 2235kg and hardly betters 2.5mpkWh, for only around 200 miles of range – but this car won’t be remembered for those.

Instead, it will mark the beginning of electric cars worth getting excited about.

Images: Jack Harrison