Reviews
Driving the Electric Future: Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Long-Term Test
Six months and 9,000 miles with Hyundai's electric hot hatch taught us that an EV can have a soul — if engineers fight hard enough for it.
| 0–60 mph | 3.2s |
|---|---|
| Power | 641 hp |
| Range | 260 mi |
| Battery | 84 kWh |
When the Ioniq 5 N arrived on our long-term fleet, the office split into two camps. One group expected a fast appliance — quick, quiet and ultimately forgettable. The other hoped Hyundai’s engineers had cracked the puzzle every electric performance car faces: how do you make speed feel like an event when there is no engine to sing about it?
Nine thousand miles later, the answer is clear. The Ioniq 5 N is the most convincing argument yet that electric performance does not have to be sterile.
The simulated gearbox is not a gimmick
Hyundai’s headline trick is software that mimics an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, complete with a synthetic engine note and simulated shift shocks. On paper it sounds absurd — why fake the thing electric cars exist to eliminate? In practice it gives your brain something to do. You short-shift out of corners, you bounce off a fake redline, and the car suddenly has rhythm. Turn it off and the Ioniq is faster, but it is also less involving. Most of us left it on.
After half a year, the novelty never wore off. That is the highest praise we can give it.
Range and charging reality
Driven gently, we saw close to the claimed range. Driven the way the car begs to be driven, that figure collapsed by a third. This is the EV performance tax, and there is no avoiding it. The saving grace is the 800-volt architecture: a 10 to 80 percent charge took just under 20 minutes on a fast charger, fast enough that a track day with a nearby DC charger is genuinely viable.
It is the first electric car that left the keenest drivers on staff reaching for the keys, not the spec sheet.
The niggles
It is not perfect. Tyre wear is brutal if you indulge the launch-control function, the ride is firm enough to find every expansion joint, and at over two tonnes you feel the mass through quick direction changes. The infotainment also threw a couple of software sulks that a dealer update resolved.
The verdict
The Ioniq 5 N proves a point that needed proving: enthusiasts will not be abandoned by electrification, provided manufacturers are willing to engineer for joy rather than just numbers. It is fast, but plenty of EVs are fast. What sets it apart is that it is fun, and that is far harder to manufacture.
