Hyundai has been developing its division for several years “NO” (By Nurburgring), dedicated to sports cars, competitive or serial. There are a number of supercharged models such as the i20 N, i30 N, Kona N, Veloster N or Elantra N, and the brand competes in motor racing, including the WRC, the TCR championships or the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

A new model will soon be added to this range: the Hyundai Ioniq 5N100% electric sports compact car. Now we open it up with the first images of the prototype, which is being tested in winter conditions and is still heavily camouflaged.

Hyundai Ioniq 5 N: testing in extreme conditions

The Hyundai Ioniq will soon be equipped with a sports version, which is currently being tested in extreme conditions at the Hyundai Mobis factory located near the Arctic Circle in Areplög, Sweden. This training ground allows the Korean manufacturer to conduct numerous tests at very low temperatures, which can range from to -30°C.

Enough to provide 100% electric drive chain operation of the base model E-GMP platform. The car is also tested on icy terrain to test its durability and grip, and to ensure that it can be safely driven in countries with extremely cold climates:

“In addition to perfecting our N models on the particularly twisty and demanding Nürburgring, we challenge them on the tight turns and icy surfaces of our Arjeplog test track to optimize their performance in the most extreme winter conditions. . We are proud to be able to show that the Ioniq 5 N perfectly meets all our performance criteria and will certainly succeed under the N brand as the first 100% electric N model in production.”– said Till Wartenberg, vice president of N Label Management and Hyundai Motorsport division.

Hyundai Ioniq 5 N: drift function

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N will get an all-wheel drive transmission as well as a feature “Drift Optimizer N” : this allows you to control the distribution of torque between the front and rear axles, the level of torque, as well as the stiffness of the suspensions, the torque of the steering, and electronic limited slip differential (e-LSD). Thus, it allows the car to offer a a driving mode specially designed for drifting ! In this way, he makes this amazing practice accessible to everyone.

The e-LSD system optimizes the behavior of the car in turns, as well as in poor driving conditions. This provides better control, especially in sporty driving conditions. In addition, the Ioniq 5 N will feature an ‘N Torque Distribution’ system that lets you select the level of torque sent to the front and rear wheels, offering the driver more control over their engine’s output. In this regard, Hyundai has not yet provided official figures, but the first rumors are already talking about it 585 horsepower and 740 Nm of torquethanks to the twin engine borrowed from the Kia EV6 GT.

You’ll still have to wait a bit to find out more about the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N: the Korean manufacturer will still reveal more details about its upcoming 100% electric compact before its official launch scheduled for next month July 2023. Its launch is expected on the end of 2023.