- With 641 hp the Ioniq 5 N rips from 0-60 mph in 3.3 seconds
- The Ioniq 5 N has sound generators and fake shift points
- The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N costs $67,475
The electric sports car era has arrived, and the first mass-market entry comes not from Porsche, but from…Hyundai.
With the introduction of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, the automaker took its mainstream EV crossover SUV and gave it the hot-hatch treatment: More power, more wing, more tire, all at a reasonable or at least attainable price.
For all these reasons, and because it’s damn fun, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N was an instant finalist for Motor Authority Best Car To Buy 2025 the second I slid around turn 11 Laguna Seca in one at the launch.
Hyundai took the Ioniq 5 and clicked every joy button and flipped every joy switch in the N edition. The two electric motors–one per axle–provide 601 hp and 545 lb-ft of torque. An overboost function, which Hyundai calls N Grin Boost, ups output by 40 hp to 641 hp in short bursts via a red NGB button on the right side of the steering wheel. Spoiler: An extra 40 hp is hard to feel while going 90-plus mph on a race track with over 600 hp on tap and a 4,861-pound curb weight. Still, the Ioniq 5 N runs and guns from 0-60 mph in 3.3 seconds.
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
Despite being 813 pounds more than a Tesla Model 3 Performance and 1,565 pounds more than a gas-powered Elantra N, the Ioniq 5 N controls its weight well. It’s balanced and sits low with the 88.4-kwh battery pack situation in the floor beneath the cabin. Rotating the car around a corner is easy and thanks to clever power-delivery programming, it wants to kick the rear end out. Drivers can catch and correct with the throttle, or drift away.
The Ioniq 5 N shifts, too—and snaps, crackles, and pops. Hyundai aimed to simulate a gas-powered car, and it has done a convincing job. Paddle shifters can control shift points and the car’s software ties power buildup with imaginary revs. It even pulls back on the power during its imaginary shift points. Those lightning-quick shifts can be automatic or controlled via the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. Of course all this can be turned off.
On the track the simulated shifting absolutely makes the car slower since it builds power rather than giving it all at once. The noise doesn’t really slow things down. But on backroads stuck behind traffic, the noise and simulated shifts can entertain the driver. They can even convince unwitting passengers that the Ioniq 5 N’s just like any other rally car—even a gas-powered one.
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
The performance comes with little compromise. The shifting and sound generators complicate to an already complex rolling computer, and at some level add weight. Hyundai hasn’t detailed how much. But they work as advertised.
Sports cars aren’t efficient and the Ioniq 5 N does notably better than expected, but doesn’t go as far as many will hope. In mixed suburban driving conditions we’ve averaged 2.7 mi/kwh, which would translate to 238 miles of range. That’s more than the EPA-rated 221 miles of range. Neither are large numbers and both fall short of the 300-mile mark we’d like to see. It’s less an efficiency problem and more due to the sticky 2756/32R21 rubber at all four corners and optimized for performance issues.
Like a Civic Type R, the Ioniq 5 N doesn’t fly under the radar. It has the boy racer “look at me” bits with a big rear wing, hilarious rear diffuser, side sill extensions, and deep front splitter.
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
Inside it’s mostly standard Ioniq 5 fare with a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, 12.3-inch touchscreen, and the addition of a new center console with padding to potent occupants’ knees. Hyundai swapped in a set of N sport buckets up front that aren’t terribly constricting. The steering wheel has a dizzying array of buttons with a thick rim. Just like the standard Ioniq 5, the rear seat has a knees-up seating position due to the battery pack being in the floor.
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
There’s a daunting level of customization that can be done within the powertrain’s menu system. From various stages of steering boost and suspension firmness to steering weight and sound generator choices, the Ioniq 5 N can be tuned for various experiences. That’s all before messing with torque distribution, which can be set to favor the front or rear. There’s even a drift mode.
The Ioniq 5 N costs $67,475 including a $1,375 destination charge. For that money consumers are getting an electric sports car unlike any EV, or sports car, on the market. It’s visceral, engaging—and fun, despite being electric.
Is that all enough to be named Motor Authority Best Car To Buy 2025? Can the Hyundai best a sporty Porsche EV SUV, electric Acura luxury SUV, a pair of electric off-roaders from Mercedes-Benz and Rivian, and a comfortable yet sporty gas-powered Mercedes cruiser? Check back on Jan. 6 when we reveal the winner, along with the champs from our sister sites, The Car Connection and Green Car Reports.