Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

this-ev-will-make-you-grin-from-ear-to-ear—the-2025-hyundai-ioniq-5-n

This EV will make you grin from ear to ear—the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

car review, Cars, hyundai, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Hyundai Ioniq 5 N / /

it goes duggeda duggeda duggeda —

Hyundai N’s attention to detail is on vivid display with this performance EV.

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The front half of a white Ioniq 5 N in an alleyway

Enlarge / Other automakers have half-heartedly tuned their EVs, but Hyundai’s N brand has gone all-out with the Ioniq 5, and the results are spectacular.

Jonathan Gitlin

Hyundai’s transformation over the past decade and a half has been one to watch. The automaker went on a hiring spree, luring design and engineering talent away from the likes of BMW and Audi to grow its own competency in these areas. It worked—few can rival the efficiency or charging speed of the current crop of Korean electric vehicles, for instance. And Hyundai’s N division has shown it can turn prosaic underpinnings into performance cars that push all the right buttons. Both of those things are on vivid display with the Ioniq 5 N.

The regular Ioniq 5 has been on sale for a while now, long enough to have just received a facelift. It’s one of our favorite EVs, with styling that calls back to the angular hatchbacks of the 1980s and an 800 V powertrain that’s easily best-in-class. Now, the company’s in-house tuners have had their way with it, applying lessons learned from rallying and touring car racing to up the fun factor.

It’s not exactly a novel approach, even for EVs. Kia beat Hyundai to the punch with the EV6 GT; the car is fearsomely fast, but I found it less compelling than the normal version, which is cheaper, less powerful, and more efficient. In fact, I’m on record as saying that when looking at EVs, the cheapest, least-powerful version is almost always the one to get.

Not in this case. The body has extra welds and adhesive to stiffen its shell, with new front and rear subframes and reinforced battery and motor mounts. The N even took mass out of the drive axles to reduce unsprung weight, similar to its World Rally Championship contender.

  • Among the obvious changes are blistered wheel arches and an assortment of aerodynamic ducts, winglets, channels, and spoilers.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • The base Ioniq 5’s bone structure was well-suited for this motorsport makeover.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • This will probably be my car of the year.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • There’s a different center console, and new sports seats, plus a steering wheel with an awful lot of buttons on it.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • The back is roomy, but it’s a little more claustrophobic than normal thanks to the backs of the big bucket seats.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • I mean, it’s not a dungeon back here or anything.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • There’s no need for additional bracing, so there’s as much cargo room as the base model.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • No frunk, just power electronics and HVAC parts.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • 15.75-inch brake discs and four-piston calipers help stop the front wheels.

    Jonathan Gitlin

The power steering has been strengthened and given a quicker ratio, and it has been comprehensively reprogrammed to deliver more feedback to the driver. As you might expect, there are all manner of clever algorithms to control how much power gets put down at each axle or to each rear wheel, with various levels of intervention for a driver to choose from.

Nominal power output is 601 hp (448 kW) and 545 lb-ft (739 Nm), with bursts of 641 hp (478 kW) and 568 lb-ft (770 Nm) for up to 10 seconds available with the push of one of the many buttons on the steering wheel. That’s sufficient for a 0–60 mph time of 3.3 seconds, with a chirp from the tires in the process.

The pair of electric motors are fed by an 84 kWh battery pack that will fast-charge from 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes. However, just like with performance variants of internal combustion cars, the combination of big wheels, sticky performance tires, and all those aerodynamic drag-inducing addenda means it won’t be as efficient as the normal version. Here, that leads to an EPA range of just 221 miles (355 km), although that’s measured in Normal mode, not the far more efficient Eco setting.

You either get it or you don’t

The Ioniq 5 N’s best party trick is called N E-Shift, and it’s bound to be divisive. It simulates an eight-speed paddle-shift transmission, changing throttle mapping and lift-off regen to replicate each “gear,” and the effect is extremely convincing.

  • The different levels of performance or efficiency are readily available and easy to switch between using the multifunction steering wheel.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • This is the default instrument panel.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • Here, the N E-Shift button has been pressed, and the power gauge on the right has turned into a tachometer.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • In N mode, with the N E-Shift active.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • This was actually the second charger I visited to recharge the Ioniq 5 N; the first EA charger started smoking and shut down. But that was an EA thing, not an Ioniq 5 N thing.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • Like any car, if you drive it hard, you’ll have to recharge or refuel it often.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • As you can see, the Ioniq 5 N can also be quite efficient if necessary.

    Jonathan Gitlin

This EV will make you grin from ear to ear—the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Read More »

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Here are the 10 best cars we drove in 2023

2023 Kia Niro, 2023 Kia Niro EV, 2023 Toyota Prius Prime, Car of the Year, Cars, Genesis GV70 Electrified, Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, Hyundai Ioniq 6, Polestar 2, porsche 356, Porsche 911 Sport Classic, Toyota GR Corolla, toyota prius, Volvo EX30 / /

fewer EVs than last year —

EVs, hybrids, and a couple of sports cars—here are the 10 best cars we drove in 2023.

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Here are the 10 best cars we drove in 2023

Aurich Lawson/Getty Images

The mince pies have been eaten, the crackers have been cracked, and the days are starting to get longer. That means it’s time to look back on the best vehicles we tested in 2023. It has been a good year for electric vehicles, which accounted for almost one in ten new vehicles sold in the US this year. We’ve also driven some rather good hybrids, as well as a pair of sports cars that reminded us that there’s still room for enthusiast cars. Read on to find out which cars made the cut.

1. Polestar 2

You'd be hard-pressed to spot the difference between the 2023 Polestar 2 and the 2024 Polestar 2, but the improvements are obvious when you drive one.

Enlarge / You’d be hard-pressed to spot the difference between the 2023 Polestar 2 and the 2024 Polestar 2, but the improvements are obvious when you drive one.

Jonathan Gitlin

In addition to claiming the top spot in 2023, Polestar might also win a prize for the most significant reengineering job for a midlife refresh. Normally, an automaker might restyle the bumpers or change the headlights and tweak the interior when it gives a model its spruce-up after a few years on sale. Not Polestar—it mostly left the cosmetics alone but moved the electric motor in the single-motor Polestar 2 from under the hood, where it drove the front wheels, to the rear, where it now drives the rear wheels.

Combined with a bit of a bump in power (ok, 29 percent more power and 48 percent more torque), the result is a real driver’s car, with better steering and handling than the front-wheel drive Polestar 2 it replaces. There’s more standard equipment than before, and it’s more efficient, too. Only about 30 percent of US Polestar customers have picked the single-motor model in the past, but they’re missing out. The twin-motor car might be faster, but it’s less engaging to drive, has less range, and costs a whole bunch more.

2. Hyundai Ioniq 6

From this angle there's a hint of the 1994 Lagonda Vignale concept to the Ioniq 6, and that delights me.

Enlarge / From this angle there’s a hint of the 1994 Lagonda Vignale concept to the Ioniq 6, and that delights me.

Jonathan Gitlin

Korean EVs built using Hyundai Motor Group’s highly competent E-GMP platform took the top spot in 2021 and 2022, but this year Hyundai will have to settle for first runner-up with the Ioniq 6, a somewhat eccentrically styled but highly efficient sedan. Like the other E-GMP EVs, its battery pack operates at 800 V, which means (among other things) it’s capable very fast DC charging—just 18 minutes connected to a 350 kW charger will return the Ioniq 6’s battery pack to 80 percent, which earned this EV the top spot in a recent test of which EVs added the most range the fastest.

The Ioniq 6’s bold exterior is partnered with a more restrained interior that, while not flashy, is spacious and comfortable. And its little whale tail spoiler is a delight, especially when the sun catches the inset prismatic panel on its upper surface.

3. Toyota Prius

The Prius used to be considered quite cool back when it was the first mainstream hybrid on sale. Now in its fifth generation, the new one finally looks really cool.

Enlarge / The Prius used to be considered quite cool back when it was the first mainstream hybrid on sale. Now in its fifth generation, the new one finally looks really cool.

Jonathan Gitlin

The transformation of the Toyota Prius from fourth- to fifth-generation would be worthy of one of Hans-Christian Anderson’s fairy tales. Out went a weird-looking car that appeared to have been designed by two entirely separate teams that then crashed their creations together; in came a super-sleek replacement with a more-steeply raked windshield than a Lamborghini Huracan.

Lower and wider than before, the dramatic-looking Prius is still all about fuel efficiency despite the makeover. The engine has grown slightly in capacity, there’s a lithium ion traction battery in place of the previous car’s NiCad pack, and electric all-wheel drive is an option now too. But the real headline is 57 mpg (4.13 L/100 km)—assuming you picked a Prius on the smaller wheels.

In fact, we tested two different Prius variants in 2023, the parallel hybrid and the slightly more expensive plug-in hybrid, which features a bigger battery pack and about 35 miles of electric range. And since I can’t pick which one of the two I prefer, I’m counting them both.

Here are the 10 best cars we drove in 2023 Read More »