We’ve made an elephant that can dance. That’s how Hyundai’s technical advisor Albert Biermann describes the new, 2.2 ton Ioniq 5 N. Hyundai freely admits that building an engaging electric car – one befitting of the N badge – isn’t entirely straightforward, so it's approaching its first performance EV from a different angle. The Ioniq 5 N is not, they say, about the raw numbers it can produce (enormous though they are). It’s been developed to put the driver at the centre, and uses a set of fiendishly complex software solutions to open up new levels of interaction – the kind of which we haven't seen on a mainstream EV before. The early verdict? It does indeed dance quite well.
We have about an hour’s worth of driving on a South Korean mountain pass and a few laps of the Korean GP circuit (remember that?) to sink our teeth into the Ioniq 5 N, and given the level of configurability on offer here, that isn't a lot of time. From N Torque Distribution, N Pedal, N Drift Optimizer to N Race, the number of adjustable parameters is borderline ridiculous. Oh, and it can simulate the sound and response of a petrol engine and dual-clutch gearbox if you wish. But the key is that the Ioniq 5 N doesn’t need to be in the right mode to reveal its underlying quality, which is evident from the first mile or two. This is much, much more than an Ioniq 5 with the wick turned up.
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