2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N pricing confirmed!

UPDATE: Hyundai has confirmed pricing and some local spec details for the Ioniq 5 N.

The 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N will cost $111,000 when it goes on sale later this month, with Hyundai opening order books on September 15.

That pricing makes the Ioniq 5 N around $11,000 more expensive than the similarly powerful, but less focused, Kia EV6 GT and a whopping $170,000 less than a Porsche Taycan Turbo, which offers similar performance and was benchmarked by Hyundai during the N’s development.

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Eager customers will have a 12 hour window to order their Ioniq 5 N and Hyundai has confirmed deliveries will commence in Q1 2024, pending any unforeseen delays.

Just a single variant of the Ioniq 5 N will be offered and each vehicle will be built to order, ensuring customers can choose their own spec.

Nine exterior colours will be offered (Performance Blue matte, Performance Blue, Abyss Black, Cyber Grey, Ecotronic Gray, Atlas White matte, Atlas White, Gravity Gold matts and Soultronic Orange) and there are two options: a Vision Roof for $2000 and matte paint for $1000.

A $2000 deposit is required to secure an order, with the pre-sale accessed via the Hyundai Australia website. Pre-sale customers will also score a special gift package from Hyundai which includes pelican cases and additional N merchandise.

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Full Aussie spec details – including kerb weight – will be announced later. The Ioniq 5 N will be in Sydney this weekend at the World Time Attack Challenge where it will cut a series of demonstration laps in the hands of Keiichi Tsuchiya, AKA the ‘Drift King’. Expect plenty of smoke!

Our original story, which has all of the detail on Hyundai’s first high-performance EV, continues below.

July 2023: Stiffer, faster, more powerful and engineered to feel like an old-school, petrol-powered performance car: these are the headlines for the first ever EV produced by Hyundai N.

Revealed in full at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N packs 478kW and can rocket from 0-100km/h in 3.4 seconds – putting it in the same league as a Porsche Taycan 4S for power and performance.

However, Hyundai says those numbers played only a small part in the design brief. The true goal was to create an EV that’s engaging enough to win over proper petrol heads.

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N’s boffins rightly think old-school enthusiasts are the hardest bunch for a performance EV to win over, so instead of chasing straight line performance (subtle shot at Tesla, that one), they’ve engineered in solutions to help make their futuristic electric car, feel and drive like an engaging, petrol-powered hot hatch.

The true goal was to create an EV that’s engaging enough to win over proper petrol heads

N e-shift and N Active Sound are two such systems

N e-shift is designed to mimic the shift action of an eight-speed dual-clutch and simulates the ‘jolt’ of up- and downshifts by cutting drive to the electric motors.

The digital instrument cluster even includes a tachometer that runs to 8000rpm and you shift ‘gear’ via the paddles behind the steering wheel.

N Active Sound, meanwhile, uses 10 speakers (eight internal and two external) to deliver an “emotional” soundtrack that sounds like a combustion car even pops and bangs during downshifts.

Three sound ‘themes’ are available: ‘Ignition’ sounds like the 2.0-litre turbo in an i30 N, ‘Evolution’ copies the noise of the RN22e concept, while ‘Supersonic’ sounds like a twin-engine fighter jet.

Consider us excited about the first two, and cautiously optimistic about the fighter jet sounds…

Watch the N e-shift gear system in action

Dan Gardner experienced it in January with the RN22e concept. Watch below!

The goal of both systems is to imbue the Ioniq 5 N with the same vibrations, sensations and dynamic calling cards that drivers rely on to judge speed, grip and how close they are to the limit.

Greater connection, basically, which is typically in short supply in a fast EV.

There’s even an integrate ‘Torque Kick Drift’ function, which is part of the Ioniq 5 N’s drift mode and is designed to simulate the clutch kick action of a rear-drive car and push the back of the car out more aggressively. Nice.

The risk is all of this could feel horribly artificial – like adding static to an MP3 file to make it sound like vinyl – but full marks to what N is trying to achieve.

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Click the photo above to see our full Ioniq 5 N gallery

The rest of the Ioniq 5 N’s recipe is performance car 101

There’s the same 800V architecture, a bigger new-generation 84kWh battery, huge 400m front brakes, a stiffer body in white thanks to 42 additional welds and 2.1 extra metres of adhesives, bespoke suspension, and specially tuned steering with a strengthened steering column.

Power is up to 478kW (or 650ps) in boost mode, wheel sizes are up to 21-inches – the alloys are forged aluminium wrapped in specially developed 275/35 R21 Pirelli P Zeros – and overall size is up, too, courtesy of a body that’s 50mm wider, 80mm longer and 20mm lower.

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Also new are the ‘Luminous Orange’ highlights, which is the debut signature colour for an N electric car.

Inside there are bolstered sports bucket seats that are 20mm lower than the regular Ioniq 5 and a chunky centre console fitted with shin pads has been added to stop your legs swinging around wildly during hard corning.

There’s an increased use of eco-friendly materials, too, like sugarcane yarn and recycled Alcantara on the seats.

The widescreen digital display also has loads of fresh functions like a slider that allows drivers to adjust the torque distribution (fully variable through 11 different levels) and to engage the N Drift Optimiser (Drift mode).

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Hyundai is yet to confirm a torque figure, but around 750Nm is the ballpark we’d expect

The steering wheel is new, too, and includes no fewer than three N logos. The two hanging below the steering wheel spokes are hot keys for your favourite mix of drive modes (similar to M1 and M2 in a BMW M car) and they pair with a regular ‘drive mode’ button and another labelled NGB for N Grin Boost.

NGB, or boost mode, works with the Ioniq 5 N’s more powerful two-stage inverter to increase peak power from 448kW in regular driving (166kW from the front motor; 282kW from the rear) to 478kW for 10-second bursts. Hyundai is yet to confirm a torque figure but around 750Nm is the ballpark we’d expect.

That makes the Hyundai marginally more powerful than its Korean sibling, the Kia EV6 GT, which produces 430kW/740Nm. No word on range, yet, either but Hyundai hinted it’d be marginally below a regular Ioniq 5’s which is 454km for the Equip AWD.

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If you haven’t guessed already, configurability is core to the Ioniq 5 N driving experience

There are three stages for the adaptive dampers, three for the weight of the steering, four for the battery and even three settings for the launch control to “allow drivers to launch their vehicle like a professional race car”.

Pick the right setting for the grip available and Hyundai says the Ioniq 5 N will hit three figures in 3.4 seconds, which is about the same as a Porsche Taycan Turbo.

The braking is interesting. Hyundai says the upgraded discs are the strongest brakes it has ever fitted to a production car and they’re colossal – 400mm discs clamped by four-piston callipers up front, 360mm/single-piston out back – but it’s actually regen that provides most of the stopping power.

Dubbed ‘N Brake Regen’ the system can deliver 0.6Gs of deceleration and should provide up to 80-90 percent of the braking performance in day-to-day driving. Even on a circuit as demanding as the Nurburgring, Hyundai says regen will account for 40-50 percent of the braking force.

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Ah yes, the Nurburgring

Track driving is typically kryptonite for electric cars, but Hyundai has worked hard to ensure the Ioniq 5 N offers repeatable performance over extended runs.

The new battery, for example, is said to be less susceptible to power loss from overheating, and owners can also pre-condition the battery either for drag racing (Drag = shorter hits of full power) or track driving (Track = battery kept at the lowest temp possible for more laps).

The track setting can be further configured via two addition settings: Endurance of Sprint. Endurance maximises range by limiting peak power whereas Sprint is like a ‘qualifying mode’ designed to use over a single lap.

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Click the photo above to see our full Ioniq 5 N gallery

Modes within modes… there’s no question that the Ioniq 5 N is a dense and multi-layered performance car.

Yet its philosophy is remarkably simple: fun. Engagement and connection were higher priorities than lap times or top speed (260km/h if you’re wondering) and as we head into the electric age, that’s a mindset we can get behind.

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What will the Ioniq 5 N cost in Australia?

Looking at the set it'll do battle with, it shouldn’t cost a squillion dollars.

Given a Kia EV6 GT costs $100K before on-roads, we’d wager the Ioniq 5, which is far more focused and enhanced, should start at around $110-$120K when it arrives in Australia in early 2024.

Given a Porsche Taycan Turbo – which Hyundai insiders hinted was heavily benchmarked during development – is $280,000, you can view the Ioniq 5 N’s price in two ways: it’s either a very pricey Hyundai, or a performance car bargain. As ever, the proof will be in the driving.

IONIQ 5 specifications