New Hyundai Ioniq 5 N EV will have the Feel and Sound of the Hyundai i30 N

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N – Hyundai’s performance take on the Ioniq 5 – will have the feel and sound of the Hyundai i30 N.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 has been with us since, delivering Hyundai’s first bespoke EV. And it’s doing very well. But a performance version – the Ioniq 5 N- is missing so far which, considering Kia has its performance version in the Kia EV6 GT, is a bit surprising.

But it looks like the launch of the new Ioniq 5 N is nearing after Hyundai recently managed to insert a brief look at a camouflaged N in a recent video (above), and now Hyundai’s ‘N-Man’, Albert Biermann, has revealed a few more details of what we can expect from the ‘N’.

Speaking to Car Expert, Bearman said the Ioniq 5 N will come with a virtual DCT ‘box – dubbed N e-Shift – to match the feel of a paddle-shift in the i30 N, along with sounds which mimic the engine revs right up to the limiter. He said:

The idea is to come pretty close to the feel and sound of the DCT in the i30 N hatch. This is what we want to deliver, complete with the same jolt and downshift vibrations you experience in our ICE N cars.

Sound-wise, though, it’s very challenging, especially those pops and crackles you get in the i30 N, but we’re still working on this technology to bring the DCT in-car experience of a combustion engine car to similar emotional levels in our Ioniq 5 N EV.

The expectation is that the Ioniq 5 N will come with at least as much power as the Kia EV6 GT – and perhaps a bit more, heading towards 600bhp – which, combined with the feel of an ICE performance car, sounds appealing.