Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

Hyundai Ioniq 5 N at a glance

How the N differs from a normal Ioniq 5

Hyundai reworked the Ioniq 5 structure for the N. The body-in-white has 42 extra welding points and 2.1 metres of additional adhesive, and the motor and battery mounts and the subframes are reinforced. The car is 80 mm longer, 20 mm lower and 50 mm wider at the bottom than a standard Ioniq 5, with wider wheel arches and track, larger front intakes, air curtains, a rear wing with a triangular third brake light and a diffuser.

The battery grows from 77.4 to 84.0 kWh. The larger front motor and an external speaker take the space of the standard car's front boot, so the N has only its 480-litre rear boot. Steering uses a quicker ratio and an N-tuned electric rack. The car runs on 21-inch forged wheels with 275/35 R21 Pirelli P Zero tyres, and it weighs between 2,205 and 2,235 kg (4,861 to 4,927 lb), a mass Top Gear names among its drawbacks.

Power, N Grin Boost and performance

The motors spin to 21,000 rpm and the top speed is 260 km/h (162 mph). N Torque Distribution lets the driver set the front-to-rear split in 11 steps, and an electronic limited-slip differential on the rear axle handles up to 1,800 Nm. N Launch Control offers three traction levels. Under the N Drift Optimizer, a clutch-kick function uses a burst of motor torque to start a slide.

Software that imitates a combustion N

N e-Shift simulates an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox: the motor torque is cut briefly to create a shift jolt, there is a hard rev limiter, and the regeneration level imitates engine braking. N Active Sound+ adds three sound themes, called Ignition, Evolution and Supersonic, through eight Bose speakers inside and two outside. The sound changes with throttle position.

Brakes, cooling and track tools

The front brakes use 400 mm discs with monoblock four-piston calipers, and the rear discs measure 360 mm. N Brake Regen recovers energy at up to 0.6 g of deceleration before the friction brakes take over, blended so the driver does not feel the change. Hyundai enlarged the cooling area and fitted separate radiators for the battery and the motors.

Two preconditioning settings prepare the battery: Drag mode for short bursts at full power and Track mode for longer sessions. N Race offers a Sprint setting for hot laps and an Endurance setting that limits peak power to stretch the battery over more laps, and a Track State-of-Charge function calculates energy use per lap on a stored circuit.

Range, charging and efficiency

WLTP range is 448 km (278 miles), while the US EPA rating is 221 miles (356 km). A DC charge from 10 to 80 percent takes 18 minutes, with a peak of 238 kW, and the car supports Plug and Charge and vehicle-to-load. Top Gear called the range weak next to the standard Ioniq 5 and named the large tyres and the downforce-focused aerodynamics as the cost of its performance.

Prices, awards and the eN1 Cup car

Top Gear listed UK prices from GBP 65,735 to GBP 67,115 in April 2025. The Ioniq 5 N was named World Performance Car in 2024, Top Gear's Car of the Year in 2023, Car and Driver's EV of the Year in 2024 and Korea Car of the Year in 2024, and Autocar gave it five stars in 2025. Euro NCAP rated the Ioniq 5 range at five stars in 2021 but did not test the N.

For racing, Hyundai built the eN1 Cup car, unveiled on 30 March 2024 for Korea's first electric one-make series. It weighs about 1,970 kg, roughly 270 kg less than the road car, and keeps the road car's dual-motor drivetrain.

Ioniq 5 N, Ioniq 6 N or a rival

Hyundai's second electric N car, the Ioniq 6 N saloon of 2025, uses the same 84.0 kWh battery and 478 kW peak output in a lower body; Hyundai quotes 3.2 seconds to 100 km/h and 487 km WLTP for it, against 3.4 seconds and 448 km for the Ioniq 5 N. The Ioniq 5 N keeps the advantages of the crossover shape: a 3,000 mm wheelbase and a taller cabin. Buyers coming from a combustion hot hatch can compare it with the Hyundai Veloster N, an earlier N car sold with a dual-clutch gearbox, and with the E-GMP-based Kia EV6. The standard car is covered in our guide to the Hyundai Ioniq 5, and all models are in the Hyundai catalogue.

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