Hyundai Ioniq 5 N review

The world has never been treated to a musical collaboration between rock legends AC/DC and K-Pop superstars BTS. Thankfully. But that oddball blend of the old with the new was exactly how Hyundai N boss, Albert Biermann, described the challenge of creating the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N.

The internal combustion engineering knowhow is AC/DC, and the nascent electric vehicle technology is BTS. The result? Rather than a musical crime, we have a 641bhp fully electric hyper-hatch with a “gearbox” and engine noise.

It is, of course, based on the regular – and excellent – Hyundai Ioniq 5 but comes with a number of performance upgrades. They include new suspension, reworked steering and a vast array of different drive modes designed to separate it from the closely-related Kia EV6 GT and appeal to those after a legitimate EV track toy.

Hyundai’s N division is like what M is to BMW, and AMG to Mercedes, and has been responsible for some great hot hatches so far, including the i20 N and the i30 N.

But is the 2.2-tonne fully electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 N actually fun? Is it a good hot hatch? And how does it compare to the EV6 GT? Read on to find out...

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N draws its power from an 84kWh battery, which is a little bigger than the battery in the regular car. It gives the 5 N an official range around 266 miles, which is down on the regular car and behind the Tesla Model Y too.

You’ll be able to cover those miles quickly, though. With an electric motor on each axle, the Ioniq 5 N produces a combined 601bhp, or 641bhp in 10-second bursts thanks to an overboost function called N Grin Boost. Using launch control, the car is said to hit 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds.

Lots of other electric cars are stupendously quick but there aren’t many which are faster accelerating than the 5 N. The way it builds speed is truly savage.

However while it’s quicker, there's not a great deal of difference between this car and the 3.5-second Kia EV6 GT. The Ioniq 5 N might just edge a drag race, you’d never notice the difference in pace on the road, and the same goes for the 3.5-second Model Y Performance.

Where the Ioniq 5 N does stand out from the crowd is with the many drive mode party tricks it has up its sleeve.

There are some regular modes you’d expect (Eco, Normal, Sport) to alter things like the accelerator response, the steering weight and the damper stiffness, and there are two customisable modes which you can configure to your heart’s content via the infotainment system.

There’s also a drift mode, which helps encourage the car to go sideways but still with a hint of traction control involved to prevent snap oversteer (an EV6 GT also offers this). There are two different types of track mode that maximise the cooling of the battery and electric motor to try to avoid overheating, which limits EV performance when driving very hard (it will still happen eventually, though).

Are you still with us? N Pedal massively cranks up the effect of regenerative braking, the idea being that if you lift off the accelerator when you're driving hard, the braking force helps move the weight of the car forwards to aid your turn in.

N Torque Distribution gives you 11 choices of where you would like to send the torque, ranging from 100% to the front wheels, 100% to the rears or somewhere in between. Then there's N e-Shift and N Active Sound Plus – a unique combination in the electric car world right now.

N Active Sound Plus triggers some fake engine noise (there are two other less conventional sounds you can choose instead) pumped into the interior via six speakers and outside the car via two external speakers. We’ve already seen – or, rather, heard – the Abarth 500e do something similar.

N e-Shift, though, makes the car drive as if it has an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Of course, it doesn’t actually have one – it has a single-speed transmission, as most electric cars do. But with the “gearbox” engaged, the paddles on the steering wheel can shift up and down the simulated gears.

N e-Shift was tuned by the Hyundai engineer who derived the real-life eight-speed automatic gearbox used in other N cars. Flat-out acceleration sends the “revs” soaring and as you pull a paddle for an upshift the power delivery is interrupted briefly until the next “gear” engages, causing a genuine jolt in the driver’s seat.

Each gear responds in the way you’d expect – if you're in “fifth gear” at “low revs” and floor the accelerator, for example, the performance is limited and gradually builds as if you were in a fuel-powered car.

It’s a gimmick of course, with no performance benefits whatsoever (in fact, you’ll be slower on track using it). And like an Instagrammer with the best life ever, it’s all fake. Whether the concept of a simulated gearbox and fake engine noise appeals to you is perhaps more of a philosophical debate. At least the execution of it is quite convincing – the gearbox more so than the thin, trebly engine noise.

So what is the Ioniq 5 N actually like to drive? Well, the steering is a little vague around the straight ahead in normal mode, but going through the sportier settings adds more heft to it and seems to sharpen up its response which gives you decent confidence in placing the front wheels where you want. You can be more precise than you can in the EV6 GT.

This is still, like the EV6, a 2.2-tonne SUV though. With the adaptive suspension in its firmest setting, the 5 N does well to resist the kind of body lean you might be expecting and stays remarkably flat through mid-speed corners, feeling composed and letting you adjust your line with a lift off the accelerator. But it feels far less alert and nimble when tackling a series of fast switchbacks, which exposes the considerable bulk of this car.

There is, though, lots of grip on offer from the sticky Pirelli P-Zero tyres and the excellent traction means you can really get the 5 N’s power down with minimal fuss. All of which means this is a hugely powerful and capable car that is remarkably approachable.

With the suspension in its softest setting, there’s still some firmness to it, but you can tackle big motorway miles in decent comfort with a ride that is a little more compliant than an EV6's.

Still, while the 5 N is rapid and can be fun, the (admittedly more expensive) Porsche Taycan offers a far greater driving experience. And in the petrol hot hatch world, the cheaper and lighter Mercedes-AMG A45 S is more dynamically capable.

Driving overview

Strengths Rapid straight-line pace; vast drive mode configurability

Weaknesses A racetrack is needed to safely use some of the modes

Inside there isn’t a huge amount of difference between the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and a regular Ioniq 5. There are new heated and ventilate bucket seats, which are not electrically adjustable but are nicely comfortable and supportive.

The driving position is the same, which is a shame if you’re hoping for a low-slung sporty feel behind the wheel. It’s more like a traditional SUV, and would be better if you could lower the seat a few notches (you can blame the battery under the floor for that). Parts of the 12.3in digital driver display can be blocked by the steering wheel, depending on your seating position.

You have the same dual-screen layout, giving you a 12.3in digital driver display joined to a 12.3in touchscreen infotainment system, although there are a few more menus and layouts to cater for the many new N features controlled through it.

The drive modes are activated using buttons on the new steering wheel, or through the touchscreen. And there are many different menus and submenus to swipe through depending on the function you’re trying to activate or customise.

You can just take the keys and go for a quick blast up the road in one of the preset driving modes, but those wanting to delve into the full suite of driving features will have to spend a serious amount of time familiarising themselves with the layout. As much as it’s fiddly and a little overwhelming at first, we're sure some buyers will gladly pore over the many modes and configurations like the settings on a video game.

Aside from the N bits, the infotainment is the same as the regular car's. Some icons are a bit small, but it’s a responsive screen with good graphics and helpful physical buttons along the bottom to aid navigating through all the functions.

The climate controls are always visible on a screen below the infotainment, which is good, but the buttons are touch-sensitive rather than physical, so it requires more of your attention while driving to operate them.

The interior looks modern and is mostly well laid out, with leather and alcantara that lift the quality a little compared with the regular car.

Some plastics aren’t especially tactile, though – including those used on the passenger’s side of the dashboard and the lower doors – and a few bits even wobble when you prod them. That's disappointing on even the entry-level versions of the Ioniq 5 let alone this very expensive one. A Kia EV6 GT looks and feels a little better.

Interior overview

Strengths Responsive touchscreen; bucket seats are comfortable and supportive

Weaknesses Driver display blocked by steering wheel for some; some materials disappoint

The amount of space for passengers and luggage in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is just the same as in the Ioniq 5. Which means that this car is as practical as it is quick.

Space up front is very generous: you’d have to be well over six-foot tall to have any problems with leg room. The wide interior adds to the sense of spaciousness.

In the rear, leg room is ridiculously generous, and not far off what you’d expect in a limo. Head room is good too. What’s more, you can slide the rear seats back and forth and recline them as well.

The generous passenger space doesn’t come at the expense of a practical boot, and the Ioniq 5 is roughly on a par with the Kia EV6 for luggage carrying. We managed to slot seven carry-on suitcases below the load cover of the regular Ioniq 5 and EV6, so this 5 N should take the same. For comparison, a Tesla Model Y's front and rear boots combined can fit 10.

Practicality overview

Strengths Vast rear seat space; massive boot

Weaknesses Tesla Model Y’s boot is bigger

There is just one version of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, and aside from the paint and a sunroof, there are not any options you can add. All the drive mode gizmos and mechanical advancements over the regular Ioniq 5 come as standard.

On one hand, it’s cheaper than the Audi e-Tron GT and the Porsche Taycan. On the other, it’s more expensive than both the Kia EV6 GT and the Tesla Model Y Performance, although the differences up at this price point are not huge.

Remember, you can check the latest prices using our New Car Deals pages.

The 5 N is capable of the same superfast charging speeds as the regular car, which means at its maximum rate of 238kW you can get a top up to 80% in less than half an hour. Using a more common 50kW public charger, that time would be one hour and 10 minutes.

The regular Ioniq 5 was awarded the full five stars out of five when tested by crash safety experts Euro NCAP. That result doesn’t technically cover the 5 N, but the results suggest it should offer an excellent level of protection.

In terms of reliability, Hyundai finished a very impressive seventh out of 32 manufacturers in our 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey and the regular version of the Ioniq 5 finished sixth out of nine electric SUVs.

Costs overview

Strengths Hyundai’s reliability record; fast maximum charging speed

Weaknesses More expensive than rivals

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