- Price: NIS 440,000
- Competitors: Tesla Model Y Performance
- Likes: Performance, Handling, Usability
- Dislikes: Weight, Price, Complexity
- Rating: 9/10
Enjoyment in Cinema: It's fun, isn’t it? An hour and a half or so of detachment from the outside world, in darkness, on a cushioned seat, with air conditioning, and minimal brain activity aside from calculating the popcorn-to-movie-time ratio. Yes, it’s enjoyable. Personally, I’m not really into it; something about surrendering to the illusion just doesn’t work for me when, in a film set in 1962, there's a Ford Mustang introduced two years later. It annoys me. If the hero fires more than the 15 rounds in a standard Glock 19 magazine, I can't stay engaged. And if, in a car chase, a beat-up police cruiser keeps up with a sports car, come on, that’s where I draw the line. But every now and then, a film manages to pull us in, no matter how ridiculous the effects or how loose the technical accuracy with reality. In space, you can’t hear sounds and there’s no oxygen for spectacular explosions, but sit me in front of Star Wars (the original films, of course), and every roar of an X-Wing will glue me to the screen.
So, What About the Hyundai Ioniq 5N? As the automotive industry transitions to electric propulsion, no matter which side of the fence you’re on, it was clear from the start that in the horsepower battle, electricity wins. The incredible ease of producing high power from electric motors has made it all so available and cheap. They just charge at you like Indians in a Western, but purists always said that no matter how much power they put in, and we’ve seen impressive and strong models like the Porsche Taycan, Tesla Model 3 Performance, Model S Plaid, even the electric Abarth 500, a real sports car with the sounds, the feeling, and the vibrations couldn’t be produced. And then Hyundai’s sports division released the Ioniq 5N.
Design: The Ioniq 5 isn’t exactly a car with a design that seamlessly integrates into everyone's retina, but the N version is definitely something hard to ignore. Someone went wild on this angular hatchback, like a scene from “The Big Lebowski” or “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (both must-sees, what’s wrong with you?). Much of this is due to the test car's color, a matte light blue of the N division with flashes of orange, red, and black. Those who know what the Ioniq 5N is look at it with interest, curiosity, and give it a thumbs up. Others just stare at this colorful creature in amazement. What’s certain is that this isn’t a car you can say: “Officer, it’s just an electric Hyundai... I definitely didn’t take that turn at the takeoff speed of a light aircraft.”
Interior: Speaking of light aircraft, entering the driver’s environment in the Ioniq 5N involves a moment of staring at all the buttons on the steering wheel: Driving modes, the N mode, the "manual shift" mode (I promise to explain), and the red button that movies always taught us to fear. And this is before we dive into the myriad menus and submenus of driver preferences in the personal settings mode. Brakes, controls, engine, differential, sound, steering, suspension, display, front and rear power distribution, and gluten sensitivity. And that’s before the track mode menu, which also has a full questionnaire of preferences. Folks, are we about to start driving, or are we here to fill out forms?
Besides that, it’s the interior of the Hyundai Ioniq 5, meaning a well-made environment with good ergonomics, clarity, and ease of understanding. There are enough storage compartments, cup holders in a somewhat low position, good visibility outside, a driving position low enough to feel like a car, and high enough for those who want to see it as a crossover. With a rear seat that has excellent legroom thanks to a 3-meter wheelbase.
The standard Ioniq 5 trunk isn’t huge in volume and has a shallow design that somewhat hinders usability, but the 5N’s trunk reduces the volume by 40 liters to only 420 liters. The price of the engine, suspension, and rear differential. It also means it lacks a spare wheel.
Equipment: Let’s clarify in advance, the list of equipment for the Ioniq 5N will be relatively brief. I don’t think we gathered here to hear about safety curtains, an electric trunk, and a smart key, okay? But we will mention some of the main equipment components that are present and those that are missing. Starting with the front seats, which are exactly what sports seats in a car that isn’t meant for endurance racing should be (by the way, endurance racing, “Ford vs. Ferrari” is a must-watch). They are supportive, deep, comfortable, with ventilation and heating. They are not electric, yes, this car costs 440,000 NIS and the seats are manually adjustable, which is a shock at first. But if you take a breath and remember that this is a car that probably won’t have drivers swapped on a daily basis, is it a deal-breaker? Not really (and yes, Tesla offers this as standard, so there’s no reason not to). Android and iPhone compatibility for the 12.3-inch screen is familiar, as is the dashboard of the same size with stunning and distracting driving data displays in N mode. Wireless phone charging, panoramic sunroof, head-up display, car exit from parking. In short, there’s a lot of equipment, and I’m really sorry, but I urgently need to move to the artistic part. Oh, and you can’t get away with nothing, because speaking of Tesla, the Ioniq 5 doesn’t have a remote control app. I know it sounds petty, but you’ll have to believe me that coming back to a car you thought was charged only to find it’s not – is no fun.
Safety Equipment: Like the regular Ioniq 5, it also has automatic braking, lane-keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring with side displays and lane-keeping prevention, adaptive cruise control, reminder to prevent child forgetfulness, and speed sign recognition. It scored 5 stars in the European crash test.
Performance: Before we explain how it gets there, let’s start with the summary – the Hyundai Ioniq 5N has 650 hp and 78.5 kgm of torque in "boost" mode activated by the mysterious red button on the steering wheel. In a gasoline car, this power would have been squeezed from 8, 10, or 12 cylinders, which would need fuel, ignited with a precise air mixture, cooled, lubricated, and the gases expelled, repeatedly at 8,000, 9,000, or 11,000 rpm. It might also have turbochargers, adding another layer of heat management, lubrication, and air complexity. This is before connecting it to a transmission that must handle all that power and transfer it through a series of gears with delicate and precise mechanics. In short, if you thought the bullet scene in The Matrix was complicated, this is even more so (The Matrix, also a film with a far-fetched plot but good).
Not to diminish the complexity of the electric motor and drivetrain, but here there are two motors, one for each pair of wheels, roughly the size of a home microwave, and the "transmission" is actually a reduction gearbox that matches the motor to the wheels – I’m simplifying here, as there’s also a battery, a power converter, and cooling – but compared to the mechanical chaos of a gasoline engine, it’s like the difference between a steel foundry and a sterile chip factory.
And one more thing, unlike gasoline cars with this level of power, which, except for a few, require real compromises in daily life due to the engine’s nature that reaches its peak only at certain rpms, and efficiency is limited to a specific range. I think about all this while the Ioniq 5N and I are gliding through midweek traffic in Tel Aviv, heading toward Ayalon, Road 5 East. The feeling is like we’re sitting on a big barn, but the ride is smooth and pleasant. It’s not the vibrating nervous “hold me” of boosted gasoline engines.
At the end of the restraint comes the main course: Switching the driving mode to "Sport." All the responses of the 5 N become sharper. There were times I swear it felt like it started pushing forward as soon as my foot neared the throttle. We play around by accelerating and braking using regeneration control until we achieve complete control in the most powerful I PEDAL mode. With a press of the left button on the steering wheel, you can advance to the next level of N mode, and there's no way you won't notice it. At this point, you can really start playing with all those submenus and tailor it exactly to your preferences, though, honestly, there are too many settings. The whole setup seems more about impressing customers and their friends than truly enhancing the car's performance. On public roads, you won't feel a significant difference, and on the track, you’ll need many laps to fine-tune your exact combination. By the end, you'll likely have very little battery left to fully enjoy it. No one at Hyundai's N division asked me, but the clear recommendation is—keep it simple. Or, as Lotus founder Colin Chapman once said, "Make it adjustable, and they’ll adjust it wrong."
And the sensations when things get pushed to the limit are exactly what you’d expect from numbers like 650 horsepower and 3.4 seconds to 100 km/h, pressing into the asphalt under 2.2 tons with Pirelli P-Zero tires, 275 mm wide. Since the shocks are tuned to absorb this acceleration force, there isn’t even a split second where it “leans” back before launching forward. It’s just a moment where you’re at speed X and suddenly at speed X plus with a managerial penalty.
Power Consumption: In life, whether you’re surprised or not, there are no free lunches—unless you're in Alcatraz (The Great Escape, even though it's a silly but good movie). All this horsepower and power come at a cost: Electricity consumption. The 5 N has an 84 kWh battery; the regular Ioniq achieves a declared range of up to 570 km, while this one is declared at 448 km, and in our driving, it was around 340 km. But if you're buying it for the range, don’t. Just as a sports car buyer wouldn’t prioritize fuel consumption, the Ioniq can charge at up to 350 kW with an ultra-fast charger.
Comfort and Handling: The comfort of the Ioniq is quite good relative to its performance capabilities, though it is stiff and occasionally bouncy. However, it’s not overly harsh, and noise insulation is very good. When we hit the winding roads, it transforms from Bruce Wayne to Batman (only the original film and Christopher Nolan's reboots, of course). It has poor maneuverability, especially in the city, with a turning radius of 6.21 meters, compared to the Land Cruiser's 5.8 meters.
It starts with the car recognizing winding road signs and notifying you that it's ready to switch to N mode. At this point, it’s like the devil on the shoulder of every driving enthusiast, making it even harder to resist. Now it’s time for it to deliver on its sporty promises. As the front end points toward the familiar curves and the throttle is pressed, you get a Joker-like grin on your face, which only shifts to astonished expressions from time to time. The grip is absurdly high, and its responsiveness to steering drives the nose into the apex like Thor's hammer (and I actually dislike comic book movies). Equally impressive is its ability to carry speed into, through, and out of turns.
What would require peak sensitivity to the throttle, brakes, and steering in another car is done here with fractional adjustments of power within split seconds. Its weight is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it helps the car “sit” on the asphalt and enhance grip; on the other hand, when it loosens due to a very quick direction change or a bump mid-turn, there’s a moment of floating where your heart drops, eyes glance at the speedometer, and your head calculates how far into the valley you might fly while your hands correct the direction and your foot buries the throttle to zoom out of the turn.
I’m guessing that the team behind it at Hyundai’s N division includes not just engineers but also a psychologist (I immediately think of someone who could work with psychopaths like in "The Silence of the Lambs"), because Hyundai has really invested in creating driver feedback through engine sounds. You can choose between a gasoline engine, a fighter jet, or a supercar. Personally, I prefer the former. The jet engine sound makes you feel like you’re driving a Dyson vacuum cleaner, while the supercar sound is closer to a food processor. After choosing the right sound, comes the truly delightful part. In N e-Shift mode, the regeneration controls become ones that manage 8 “gears” of the car. Yes, including rev-matching, power cut-offs during gear changes, shift lights indicating when to “shift” gears, and an “ignition cut-off” that stops the car— I hated this feature when I first heard about it, and really tried to hate it—failed miserably. Remember the effects from Star Wars? The ones that can’t happen in reality but made the movie? Hyundai has made that effect so convincing it becomes the pleasure of driving it on winding roads.
Aside from the weight, the brakes were a letdown. Not in terms of durability, but in feel. At the start of any dynamic driving in a powerful car, I have a habit of doing 2-3 hard stops to gauge brake response, power, pedal travel, and how gradual they are. Brakes are crucial for managing the car's grip, helping you understand how much weight you can put on the front wheels and improve grip when entering a turn. But with the Ioniq, this doesn’t lead anywhere; I’ve had more feedback on laminate floors. Only after several turns and a thorough acquaintance do you realize that the brakes are a façade; they’re not meant to actually do anything. They’re like the town in "The Truman Show"—a psychological tool for you, the weak, fearful human. It can enter any turn at any speed without slowing down.
The Bottom Line
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is ultimately a stunning display of harnessing electricity into a dizzying performance car. Philosophically, much of what I really liked about it is its borrowing from gasoline cars, particularly trying to give its propulsion an essence of internal combustion engines and gearboxes. It’s as if the N division wanted to make some sort of tribute to gasoline cars and their experience. The car itself is the most significant challenge I've experienced to the institution of sports cars with internal combustion engines. However, it has two issues: First, it tries too hard, with too many gimmicks and technological attempts, and too little of the material that creates a connection between driver and car.
No one at N consulted me, but if they had, I’d tell them to cut everything in half— we’d be fine with a sports car that has half the power, half the weight, half the technology, and even half the performance, and especially half the price. At NIS 440,000, this car is a great toy for the very wealthy. It’s expensive everywhere, but in Israel, it’s exceptionally pricey.
Its closest competitor, the Tesla Model Y Performance (and I’m not making a direct comparison until we see its updated version in the near future if Musk wishes), is $5,000 cheaper in the US or £5,000 cheaper in the UK. In Israel, the price difference between the two is about NIS 145,000. This is an unreasonable gap that makes it hard to conclude the exciting driving experience with an Oscar statuette and a “don’t miss it” recommendation.
Technical Specifications: Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
- Engine, Drive: Electric, dual motors
- Battery: 84 kWh
- Power (hp): 650
- Torque (kgm): 78.5
- Transmission: Single-ratio automatic
Dimensions:
- Length (m): 4.71
- Width (m): 1.94
- Height (m): 1.58
- Wheelbase (cm): 300
- Cargo Space (liters): 480
Performance:
- 0-100 km/h (seconds): 3.4
- Top Speed (km/h): 260
- Range (test): 340 km
- Range (manufacturer): 448 km
Safety:
- European Crash Test Rating: 5/5 stars
- Active Safety: Automatic braking, lane-keeping assistance, blind-spot monitoring with side display and lane departure prevention, adaptive cruise control, rear-seat reminder, speed sign recognition
Emissions:
- Group: 1 of 15
Warranty:
- Vehicle: 5 years or 100,000 km