There are faster EVs, but the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is a driver's car.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
This is not just another electric vehicle. Yes, this Hyundai initially seems like an overpriced anime-character of a car, but it is, in fact, the first hard evidence we’ve seen that the automobile’s electric future could be just as frivolous, entertaining and fun as its gas-powered past.
Contrary to what you may have read, the world does need the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. On paper, it’s simply a more powerful (601 horses) and more expensive ($80,876) version of the Ioniq 5; in reality, it’s so much more.
You see, some combustion-engine fanatics said a car like this would never – or could never – exist. Electric cars would all be boring appliances, they argued, indistinguishable from one another, no different from washing machines or toasters. With nothing to get excited about, EVs would be the death of cars as a pastime, a passion, an obsession.
I’ve been waiting, hoping, for a car like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N to prove those fears wrong.
Drivers can choose from three sounds: Evolution sounds like an obnoxious vacuum cleaner, Ignition sounds like a four-cylinder with a loud exhaust and Supersonic sounds like a video-game jet-fighter.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
There have been some very fast EVs from Tesla and Porsche, some dangerously fast and heavy electric trucks, even a couple outlandish multi-million-dollar electric supercars, but the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is the first EV designed to be fun-to-drive above all else or a ‘driver’s car.’
To that end, the 5 N has a drift mode that purposefully works to kick the rear tires loose. Not that you need it; the handling is alive and tail-happy by default in a way that no Tesla can match. Find a big empty racetrack, and you’ll burn through rubber just as quickly as you would in anything from BMW’s M division. (And in case you’re wondering, yes, Hyundai’s N division is a cheeky shot at BMW M. The South Korean brand even poached some of M’s top engineering talent.)
By comparison, the Teutonic Porsche Taycan Turbo S will probably set a quicker lap time at any track than the Hyundai, and its steering provides a smidge more feel and feedback, but the Porsche isn’t as rowdy or tail-happy. Ultimately, the manic little Hyundai is more entertaining to toss down a twisty road. Oh, and the Porsche costs about three times as much.
The Hyundai also has a fake paddle-shift gearbox, which, again, is there just for fun. As with any CGI-heavy Hollywood blockbuster, you must suspend your disbelief to enjoy it. There is no gearbox; it’s all a clever trick of the car’s software, but that doesn’t make it any less delightful to flick up and down the fake gears and hear the fake engine noise hit a fake redline and revel in how incredibly real it all feels. Put someone who didn’t know better in the driver’s seat, and they’d swear there’s a gearbox somewhere in this machine.
At first, the 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N looks like an anime-character of a car.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
Suspend your disbelief also to enjoy the fake sounds piped in through the speakers. (But, please, turn off the exterior noise-making speakers so as not to force the whole neighbourhood to get in on the joke.) Drivers can choose from three sounds: Evolution sounds like an obnoxious vacuum cleaner, Ignition sounds like a four-cylinder with a loud exhaust and Supersonic sounds like a video-game jet-fighter. If you’re bothered by all this fakery-for-the-sake-of-entertainment, well, I’m sorry because you must have a hard time living in the 21st century.
As if that’s not enough to play with, there’s also a slider that lets drivers manually distribute torque between the front and rear wheels. It’s as easy as adjusting the brightness on your phone’s display, but the results are infinitely more entertaining.
What’s most incredible though is how the Ioniq 5 N can be whatever you want it to be: front- or rear-wheel drive; gearbox or no gearbox; engine sound or no engine sound; driftable or planted. It’s a triumph of software, even if most of these unique features are buried in a horrible maze of sub-menus. But, make no mistake, the software couldn’t pull off these tricks without upgraded hardware. Compared to the regular Ioniq 5, the N is thoroughly stiffened, widened and re-engineered with new suspension components and an electronic limited-slip differential.
The interior of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. All these buttons do something and the driver can control the type of 'engine' sound pumped into the cabin.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
As with any first try, however, the Ioniq 5 N is far from perfect. For one thing, this Hyundai costs $80,876, a price which puts it in direct competition with driver favourites like BMW’s M2 and M3. For another thing, the somewhat harsh ride on city roads can get tiresome. And, driving range is down to 356 kilometres, or much less if you frequently use all 601 horsepower.
There are plenty of moments – hard braking, rapid direction changes, snapping back from a slide – where the 5 N feels like every one of its 2,205 kilograms. Although it’s lighter than the 3.1-tonne Rivian R1T and the 2.4-tonne BMW M5 hybrid, the Hyundai is heavy, and weight is the enemy of fun as far as sports cars are concerned. (Go ask Colin Chapman or Gordon Murray.)
It’ll take a technological breakthrough in batteries and/or chassis construction to bring down the weight of EVs; either that or drivers will have to settle for smaller machines with less range and rely on improved public charging infrastructure. But those are problems for the future. It’s early days for driver-centric EVs. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is just the first one and it’s enough to prove battery power can make for a great driver’s car.
Shopping for a new car? Check out the new Globe Drive Build and Price Tool to see the latest discounts, rebates and rates on new cars, trucks and SUVs. Click here to get your price.