Perhaps your response to seeing a 2,235kg, battery-powered, £65k Hyundai in a PH favourite cars list will be like that of my colleague and dear friend Ben. Which essentially amounted to asking whether its inclusion was a box-ticking exercise, a token EV to show some awareness of the wider world or perhaps a requirement from higher up to fulfil a quota. You might even be thinking that PH is running its own ZEV mandate - i.e. ensuring that 20 per cent of our shortlist this year is powered by a plug.
Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. Sure, a reliance on public chargers for a few days and a few hundred miles tried my patience (and the budget of the CarGurus expense department), but as a car to drive, appreciate, and enjoy, I left the Peak District even more convinced of the 5N’s merits than before we arrived. And it has already made an overwhelmingly positive impression, first showing off its electric box of tricks (and impressive circuit stamina) on the international launch, then translating that fine display to UK roads.
From launch, it’s been easy to get behind the 5N’s cause. As so many other manufacturers bleat on about connected mobility and low-carbon transport solutions, here was an EV explicitly concerned with driving fun. ‘Corner Rascal’ could have sounded silly if the i20 and i30 hadn’t been very serious about being exactly that, and the fourth bullet point of the press release spoke of both chassis reinforcements as well as ‘rally-inspired dual-motor AWD cornering’. The plethora of EV-specific performance features sounded overwhelming (they still do, in fact), but long experience of those combustion hatches meant there was hope for substance behind the gimmicks.
And the Ioniq 5N more than delivered. It proved happy to play apex clipping track car, oversteering hooligan, flingable hot hatch and family EV, all with absolute conviction. Just like previous nominees for this feature - M2, Mustang, RS3, GR86 - I can absolutely see a 5N outside the house one day. Without wishing to sound too self-important, that’s one of the Hyundai’s greatest achievements: even with a decent Ioniq 5 as its base, I really didn’t think we’d be at the point of a genuinely covetable performance EV for real nerds this soon. I’m fortunate enough to have driven a few fast EVs now, and none of them have wormed their way into my affections quite like the Hyundai. A similarly priced Porsche Macan is as memorable as the Christmas recycling by comparison.
Not that this is perfect, mind - even an ardent fan must concede that. The 5N isn’t tremendously efficient, just like its petrol-powered predecessors, with something like 2.5mi/kWh possible at a gentle cruise. So that’s 200 miles between fills of its 84kWh battery. When it’s hovering about zero and you aren’t gently cruising, it’s more like two miles per kilowatt hour, which doesn’t get you very far. As mentioned in those early drives, it’s hard not to ponder a little less weight and a little less power sometimes. Probably for the performance on offer it’s just about a fair return. Crucially, though, what the Ioniq also shares with its smaller, simpler siblings is an overriding impression that people who really care about the subtleties of driving have obsessed over it. Absurd though it may sound for a 650hp, 3.4-seconds-to-62mph, £64,655 Hyundai, this isn’t a numbers car - it’s a car that’s about the experience, like all the very best ones.
Maybe styling isn’t important to this sort of occasion - there’s a green Skoda Superb estate also in the final few - but the way the Ioniq 5 N looks both on the road and as a static object only increases my fondness for it. Despite not changing a great deal from the standard 5, the vibe is completely different, conveying just the right amount of performance intent without forcing the issue. It’s a deceptively large car still, at more than 4.7m, yet with proportions and details done just right, so some people remain convinced that it’s more hot hatch than family crossover.
In fact, the Ioniq 5N is the greatest MPV ever created; I mean that very seriously, and entirely as a compliment. No other car, regardless of powertrain, boasts such a bandwidth of ability; here is a mainstream model that can be transformed from easygoing, refined-ish EV (those chunky tyres throw up some noise) to wild AWD road rocket at the press of a few buttons. All too often - and usually with good reason - modes and settings are dismissed as gimmicks. Here they have a transformative effect on the Hyundai, creating multiple cars in one.
N e-Shift is probably the most important, very convincingly replicating the feel and response of a dual-clutch auto in an electric car. The paddles used to change ‘gear’ (or regen when not) should feel more expensive, though there’s little faulting how the tech actually works. From the upshift burps to the downshift flares, via a progressive torque build-up through the ‘revs’ and a final burst for the limiter, the wannabe DCT absolutely works. It’s perfect when the opportunity to zap between a few bends in Yorkshire, or roundabouts on the way up presents itself; rather than technology that’s an ever-present irritant, here there's a feature to call upon (or let N Road Sense tell you about) and appreciate exactly when required. Which turns out to be a lot of the time.
Crucially, too, none of the N’s bespoke features - plenty of which we’re still left to try in the UK, like those that prepare the battery for track driving or massively vary the torque distribution - cover up any deficiencies. They have been used to enhance a fantastic base package, not distract the driver from flaws. Even pottering about in Normal, you can appreciate details like the steering, which on its own benefits from strengthening to the column for better feel plus - another acronym for you - the N R-MDPS, or Rack-Mounted Motor-Driven Power Steering, with its own ratio. Hyundai reckons it offers a ‘more direct and communicative steering experience’, without having to resort to 4WS, and that’s exactly what you get. Where a standard, comfort-oriented 5 is pretty approximate from behind the wheel, the N feels to have all slack eliminated.
The brake pedal is one of the best in the EV world, firm and reassuring in all situations, with an additional N Brake Regen setting for track use to increase the regen’s strength up to 0.6g and lessen the strain on the mechanical brakes. Hyundai has even seen fit to facilitate left-foot braking in the 5N, ostensibly for track work - the legends. And that approach to braking sums up the entire approach, where effort has been invested to make this car a joy to drive in any situation. This isn’t a fast EV that needs a drag strip to put a smile on your face, or maximum attack to show how clever the chassis is.
Heck, it is ruddy fast, though. This trip wasn’t really the chance to demonstrate it, though out of the augmented DCT setting the Hyundai flies along like the road is a supersonic conveyer belt; you’re there holding on as the world comes hurling at you through the enormous windscreen. Every slip road from another charging stop felt like a driveway, every B-road straight much too short. Battery-powered and bonkers fast isn’t a new trick, though it’s not without appeal. N Grin Boost can certainly do as advertised.
I’d defy anyone to say this feels like 2.2 tonnes driving it on a great road. Substantial, yes, and evidently not a 1.4-tonne i30, but alive, engaging, capable and entertaining. Once more there are familiar N traits here, from an N mode that cranks everything to 11 to easily-switched assists (about the only thing that isn’t on the screen) that are up for as much of a laugh as you are. Like all the best driver’s cars, the Ioniq is willing to be driven however the driver sees fit. It’s composed enough to do fast, neat and accurate enough, powerful enough - before even thinking about N Torque Distribution - for slow in, fast out silliness, agile enough - before thinking about the N Pedal - to be hurled at a bend and rotated off the throttle. Eventually the weight will tell as the damping just flails, though not before you’ve had a whole heap of fun.
It’s a shame that there isn’t a front limited-slip diff for the Ioniq to go alongside the e-LSD at the rear, as it would likely give the steering end even more bite. And there’s sometimes a slight disconnect if the 5 is hurling away from a bend between what each end should be doing, like a car that’s normally offered with up to 300hp might just be struggling, despite the re-engineering, to deal with twice that. But it’s endearing rather than anything more undesirable, proof that the sometimes infallible world of EVs can have weak spots. And it’s usually a sign to calm down a bit.
Pleasingly, while the N’s interior only feels as special as a standard car’s - which is to say not very, bar some great seats - it feels appropriately tough. N1 HYU probably looks familiar because it’s been used for all sorts of media tests, where you can bet that everything from N Drift Optimiser to N Launch Control has been taken advantage of, and it feels fit for many more miles of the same. Again it feeds into this impression of the Ioniq being a proper job by proper folk, rather than a smattering of easy win trinkets, built to be driven and enjoyed for a long while yet.
Even now, even having had the privilege of driving a 5N a fair bit, I love that there’s so much more left to explore about it. A great feeling in any car, but especially when so many EVs feel like there’s nothing left to discover after 10 minutes. There’s real substance and purpose here behind the attention-grabbing. I’d love to see what Torque Kick Drift (yes, it’s a real thing, part of the drift optimiser) feels like on some roundabouts, what each of the 11 torque distribution settings does on the same bit of tarmac, whether Sport damping or Normal works best for my favourite B road. There’s a relationship to build here and a story to write that just hasn’t happened yet with electric cars. I think it’d be a great thing to take on a Nurburgring tourist day, for example, as some already have, and even a couple of years back the notion of wanting to do that in an electric Hyundai didn’t seem feasible.
That’s what the Ioniq 5N has done at its first attempt: completely changed the perspective of both Hyundai’s electric cars and the performance EV sector generally. It was included in this year’s Autocar’s best driver’s car finale this year, beating stuff like the GR Yaris - and losing out only to more expensive machinery - to finish in the top five. Traditional thrills and modern tech have never amalgamated quite so emphatically and convincingly as in the 5N, and it’s Hyundai that’s delivered it ahead of anyone else.
Look at where the N cars have come in such a short space of time, too - this hugely auspicious start will only get better. The i30 N was launched in 2017, and was usefully improved with a 2021 facelift before going off sale. Battery technology and software are moving at such a pace that we can surely expect an even more significant update for the Ioniq when the time comes, perhaps eking out a few more precious miles if we’re lucky. But that’s to look forward to in the future; for now, the Ioniq 5N is the most entertaining EV I’ve ever driven, the most fun Hyundai N I’ve ever driven, and the £65k hot hatch I’d buy for everything I need right now, ahead of something like a Mercedes-AMG A45 S. It’s one of the easiest choices I’ve ever made for one of these year-end features, in fact - despite what anyone else might think.
SPECIFICATION | 2024 HYUNDAI IONIQ 5 N
Engine: 84kWh lithium-ion battery
Transmission: 2 permanent magnet synchronous motors, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 609 (650 with overboost)
Torque (lb ft): 567 (overboost)
0-62mph: 3.5 secs (3.4 overboost)
Top speed: 162mph
Weight: 2,235kg
MPG: 278 miles ‘maximum potential EV driving range’, efficiency 2.93mi/kWh
CO2: 0g/km (driving)
Price: £65,000
Confession time, a chance to begin 2025 afresh with a clean slate: I don’t love 911 Carreras all that much. They’re brilliantly well-sorted sports cars, just a little short on joy, edging ever closer to two-door Panameras with each revision - while a GT3 continues as the surprisingly usable and properly exciting 911. Happily, the 541hp T-Hybrid turned my view of non-GT 911s on its head, the intelligently integrated electrification making the GTS into a mini-Turbo. There’s just so much torque on tap all the time, testing the 911 chassis in a way that even the recent turbocharged Carreras didn’t. I like the sound, the feel, and the performance of a hybrid 911, and that much was clear purely from a road drive in a Targa - 2024 really was full of surprises. A proper go in a coupe over here will surely only increase the appeal. I haven’t looked forward to driving a Carrera drive so much in ages, put it that way.
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