Review: What’s it like living with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N?

Remember when Hyundai was just that “nice but boring” carmaker? Your parents trust it as a reliable grocery shopper? Well, those days are officially over and buried, now being quietly teased in the corner by the Ioniq 5 N, with 601 horsepower giving a slap in the face to the notion that electric cars are all glorified appliances. This electric car is not only exist;It bursts into the room armed with a shotgun and demands your attention.

Not only is the Ioniq 5 N fast (albeit stupidly fast), it’s also that it manages to cram a level of driving involvement into its thick, utilitarian frame that feels almost illicit. On paper, this is a car that seems destined to make you question your allegiance to the internal combustion engine. But what’s promised on paper doesn’t always work out in the real world, so we spent a week living with this modern muscle electric car to see if it’s truly the game-changer Hyundai claims it is, or if it’s just A flash in the pan, the battery gradually fades.

quick overview

Photo Brad Anderson/Carscoops

We first drove the car when it launched in Australia in February, hitting a few twisty roads and tracks and were blown away. However, just a few hours of full testing on the road and track is difficult. You have to actually live with it to understand it and accurately determine its strengths and weaknesses. So we recently spent a week with the Ioniq 5 N to see how it handles the rigors of everyday life, and to discover whether it’s indeed the game-changing EV we thought it was after our initial testing.

What’s so special about it?

The Ioniq 5 N is unlike anything else Hyundai’s N division has made before. Prior to this car, N had only produced popular versions of the hatchback/sedan and Kona crossover. All other cars have power around 201 hp to 280 hp. So when the company unveiled a car with horsepower and performance comparable to the Porsche Taycan, the world took notice.

More info: 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N launched in South Korea with enhanced drift capabilities and more standard kit

A key reason why the Ioniq 5 N is so special is its powertrain. An 84 kWh battery pack sits beneath the skin and is paired with two electric motors. The front motor delivers 235 hp (175 kW) and 370 Nm (273 lb-ft) of torque, while the rear motor is good for 406 hp (303 kW) and 400 Nm (295 lb-ft). All told, the electric car puts out 601 horsepower (448 kilowatts). Use the N Grin Boost feature to unlock an additional 40 horsepower in a 10-second burst.

When I got back behind the wheel for the first time in more than six months, the immediacy and sheer power reminded me of just how exciting it is to drive a high-performance electric car. If you’ve never experienced this feeling, do yourself a favor and try scheduling a test drive in a fast electric car. Driving a car like a Hyundai off the line feels like riding the world’s fastest roller coaster, banging your head back into the seat and making your face feel like jelly.

The automaker says the Ioniq 5 N can hit 62 mph (100 km/h) in 3.4 seconds, but we managed to record a best time of 3.1 seconds. A few months ago we set the same time as the Audi RS e-tron GT, proving that the Ioniq 5 N can compete with the performance car league.

Limited range but fast charging

Of course, continuous firing in 5 N will drain the battery pack very quickly. Hyundai officially claims that the car can travel up to 448 kilometers (278 miles) on a single charge, but this is almost impossible to achieve in the real world. In our experience, owners who drive their vehicles in urban environments, through city streets and along highways can potentially achieve a range of approximately 350 kilometers (217 miles) if they have a little fun along the way and take full advantage of the EV’s capabilities.

Photo Brad Anderson/Carscoops

While range numbers like these aren’t terrible, they aren’t great either. After all, the Ioniq 5 N isn’t a lightweight two-door sports car that its owner might use a few times a month. It’s a big, practical family car that should be able to do everything a family car can do, including long road trips, but it’ll struggle to do that in Australia given the country’s poor EV charger network. Limited range is less of an issue in other markets where 350 kW DC fast chargers are more readily available. Once plugged in, it charges from 10% to 80% in just 18 minutes.

More: Hyundai Ioniq 5 N unlikely to be Audi RS7 performance rival

While using the Ioniq 5 N, we found a 350 kW charger and plugged it in for 25 minutes. During this period, the charger output 57.61 kWh of energy, accounting for approximately 68% of the total capacity of the battery pack. The peak charging speed is close to 240 kW, making it one of the fastest charging electric vehicles.

Excellent control, multiple modes to choose from

One of the most impressive things about the Ioniq 5 N is its handling. Despite weighing 2,230 kilograms (4,916 pounds), it hides its weight well and loves nothing better than being pushed up mountain trails. Grip is absolutely tremendous, and it’s a testament to the engineers who tuned the suspension that it’s hard to unsettle the car no matter how bad the road surface is.

Photo Brad Anderson/Carscoops

However, as with other Hyundai N products, the adjustable suspension is best left in normal mode, as the Sport and Sport+ settings are too firm for the road. Likewise, the steering’s normal mode is best, while in other modes it becomes too heavy. The Ioniq 5 N’s dizzying array of driving modes and features are essentially useless on the street. These include N Drift Optimizer, N Torque Spread that allows you to adjust front and rear power bias, N Pedal to maximize brake regeneration, N Race Mode, and more.

Beyond these modes, there’s a lot more to play. One of the Ioniq 5 N’s best-known features is N Active Sound+, which offers three different sound profiles. The first and most interesting is the Ignition, designed to emulate the sound of modern N combustion models. It does a good job of reproducing engine sounds, but it sounds a little too much like playing games on a PlayStation. One mode that’s hard to criticize is N e-Shift, as it does an excellent job of mimicking an eight-speed dual-clutch.

One of the nice things about all these modes is that they can be easily switched off, making the Ioniq 5 N feel very docile and perfect for cruising around town. While the ride is firm even in its softest setting, the car feels at home on suburban streets and is as good at picking up groceries as it would be to embarrass a supercar at stoplights.

Hyundai also equipped the Ioniq 5 N with Highway Driving Assist 2. The system includes adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go and lane-centering assist, as on previous Technology Package iterations, but with the addition of highway lane-change assist. If you’re driving on a multi-lane highway and the lines are clearly marked, you can just turn on your turn signal and the car will automatically change lanes for you. The system works well, but its usefulness remains controversial.

Tires are not durable

One of the main advantages of electric vehicles is that they generally require less mechanical maintenance than internal combustion engine vehicles. While this may also apply to the Ioniq 5 N, it will wear down the tires as you might imagine.

More: Hyundai Ioniq 5 N sets new electric car record at Pikes Peak

As standard it comes with specially developed Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires measuring 275/35 ZR21 at all four corners. These tires offer extremely high grip but have an incredibly low treadwear rating of 80. By comparison, a typical Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tire has a treadwear rating of 300, and even race-spec semi-slick tires like the Toyo R888R have a treadwear rating of 100. Tread wear grade. So it’s no surprise that our test car showed less than 7,000 kilometers (about 4,300 miles) on the odometer and only about 1 millimeter of tread pattern left.

Photo Brad Anderson/Carscoops

Spacious cabin but lots of hard plastics

The Ioniq 5 N’s cabin is nice, just like the regular model. It’s a bit of a shame that Hyundai ditched the standard car’s sliding center console in favor of a fixed unit, and the fact that the seats are manually adjustable feels a bit cheap at this price point. On the other hand, the front seats themselves are very comfortable on long journeys and do a good job of holding you in place.

The 3,000mm (118in) wheelbase means there’s plenty of legroom for rear passengers, and the reclining function of the backrest is a nice feature. Thanks to the flat floor, it’s also possible to transport three adults in the back in relative comfort. Trunk space is just 480 liters (16.9 cu ft), 80 liters (2.8 cu ft) less than the standard Ioniq 5. There’s no trunk, either, as the N’s sound generator is located in the front. There was also too much hard, dark, and rough plastic found everywhere. That’s fine for a regular car, but not so great when you’re spending A$120,000 (about $76,800).

judgment

As is often the case, during our time with the Ioniq 5 N, we discovered a few minor issues that we didn’t notice when we first tested the car. Despite these flaws, it’s still an animal that definitely delivers great driving thrills, proving that electric cars don’t have to be boring.

As a technical exercise, it’s excellent and will likely remain the driver-focused EV benchmark in its segment until someone comes up with something better. But we won’t buy it. We’d rather buy an i30 N sedan and spend an extra AU$60,000 (about US$38,400).

Photo credit: Brad Anderson/Carscoops