Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 N: The Clean Air Act, Part Two – ACTING UP!

Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 N

The Clean Air Act, Part Two

ACTING UP!

Santa Clarita, CA – Ethan (my son-in-law) and I had just left the Conejo Valley Cars and Coffee in Thousand Oaks, and while trying to figure out the infotainment screen – all twelve inches of it – we pull onto a side street and see in front of us an entire development of Eichler homes. Thinking Eichler is an architect, I later learn he’s the developer of the Thousand Oaks subdivision, and the one-hundred Mid Century homes his company built there from 1964 thru 1967 are but a small part of the Eichler homebuilding legacy. Although Joseph Eichler passed away in 1974, I think he’d appreciate the simplicity – and relative accessibility – of Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 EV. And as an exec whose time was obviously valuable, you know he’d appreciate Hyundai’s high-performance variant, the Ioniq 5 N. 

Mid Century Modern is known for its large, open spaces and indoor-outdoor living, and those descriptives also apply to the Ioniq 5. While marketed as an SUV (if this EV is a sport-utility, I’m Tom Cruise), its angular proportions and expansive hatchback are closer to a midsize variation of VW’s Golf than Ford’s Explorer. Completing the contemporary vibe are the Ioniq 5’s longish wheelbase of 118 inches and comparatively short overall length of 185.6 inches. Typically, a sedan with that same footprint would sit on a wheelbase some 10 inches shorter. 

The standard, ‘cooking’ version of the Ioniq 5 comes with both single and dual-motor models, and with an estimated range of up to 318 miles; those 318 miles are available in a rear-wheel drive SEL trim, with 225 horsepower selling for just over $51K. With its Ioniq 5 N, Hyundai offers both addition and subtraction, giving you two motors, a combined horsepower rating of 601, an estimated range closer to 200 than 300, and a selling price closer to $70K than the SEL’s $50K. And with the better ‘go’ come significant improvements to ‘stop’, along with four drive modes: Eco, Normal, Sport and ‘N’. I’m not sure I even understand Eco, but I’ll guess a buyer with that particular psychosis might.

From a design standpoint, the exterior mods to make the Ioniq 5 an Ioniq 5 N are significant, but skew toward the mature. The front spoiler and side skirts are made more visible with a coat of orange, which offset the optional Performance Blue Matte nicely. (If you’re a fan of the Gulf Fords or Porsches of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, this is your car…). None of the mods are adolescent, and while not a fan of the matte paint (and what it requires in specific care) this is a performance variant that won’t scare the missus…until, that is, you start driving.

Inside, Hyundai again went adult. The sport buckets will enclose you and secure you, but they remain accessible to all but the most overfed American. And the blue accent stitching is surprisingly discreet, especially when contrasted with the blue treatment given to the WRX tS we recently tested. The two feet of digital gauges and infotainment dominates – as you’d guess – the dash, and once you buy it you’ll undoubtedly get comfortable with it. I, of course, was borrowing it from Tuesday through an airport dropoff the following Sunday, and while I mastered the basics, my specific knowledge remained very general. 

Although I’ll debate the SUV tag for as long as you want to debate, there’s no argument with the Ioniq 5’s utility. With the rear seats up this will swallow most of what a family of four will need over a long weekend, and with the rear seats folded a couple can head out for a month. If you’re a member of an activity-centric organization – bikers, hikers or swingers – know that cargo area can swallow most – if not all – of your necessary gear.

Lighting the candle gives you an absolutely serene surge of performance, with 60 arriving in but three seconds, according to the stopwatch at Car and Driver.  There is no drama, and unless you run into something (don’t be texting, dammit!) there is no trauma. And know that the N’s penchant for turning 70 into 90 will result in tickets costing you real money. And that as 90 morphs into120 you’ll be spending time in jail.

Beyond the 0-60 (or 60 to 120), the driver will enjoy a real connectivity to the road, flat cornering, and – if you’re of THAT type – a dial-it-up soundtrack not too far removed from that of a Mustang or Camaro. Personally, I’m not a fan of the artificial enhancement, but if heading from Thousand Oaks to Fillmore through Grimes Canyon, I’m hard-pressed to argue with the result. But then, we weren’t thrown in jail…

With the N costing almost $70K, this is a premium price point for what has historically been a midrange lineup. But then, in the early ‘60s Eichler sold his homes for under $40,000, and they now transact for numbers approaching $2Million. Occasionally, less does become more – and Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 N delivers significantly more performance while, if compared to others offering similar acceleration and roadholding, doing it for significantly less. It has our ‘buy’ recommendation.