2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N spied at the Nürburgring, exec hints it could be on the cards – UPDATE

UPDATE, 13 October: A spokesperson for Hyundai has hinted at the possibility of a high-performance Ioniq 5 N.

Andrew Tuitahi, Hyundai Australia’s general manager of product, told media he imagined the Ioniq 5 would be “really quick, very powerful, and lots of fun,” if such a car were being developed by the company’s N department.

While he stopped short of confirming the model, Tuitahi made a thinly-veiled reference to recent coverage showing the Ioniq 5 N undergoing testing at Germany’s Nüburgring circuit.

“But I couldn’t tell you today when we would be able to expect that car, if it was a thing,” he added.

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September 2: The 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N has been spotted during on-road testing in Germany.

Despite wearing the same body as the all-electric Ioniq 5, the larger wheels and brakes strongly suggest this has come from the performance division of Hyundai, known simply by the letter N.

These images posted to Korean website Daum show the black Ioniq 5 N prototype driving on large alloy wheels clad in Pirelli P Zero rubber, designed to accommodate the large braking system.

The lower part of the front bumper has been opened up to allow greater airflow – likely to help cool the electric powertrain rather than to aid downforce – while it appears the test car is sitting on lower sports suspension.

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In Australia, the standard Ioniq 5 will be offered with up to 225kW of power – a far cry from the 430kW found in the dual-motor Kia EV6 GT, which shares the same E-GMP underpinnings as the Hyundai.

Reports out of Europe suggest Hyundai has stress-tested the E-GMP platform up to 450kW, but it’s possible the Ioniq 5 N will deliver a similar performance level as its Kia cousin, allowing for a 0-100km/h sprint time of around 3.5 seconds.

Hyundai N boss Albert Biermann – who was poached from BMW’s M division in 2015 – has previously stated: “Hyundai Motor Group's electric vehicle platform E-GMP has tremendous potential. The first electrified N model will be based on E-GMP.”

But Biermann promises the E-GMP architecture is more than just straight-line speed, telling media he was “looking forward to the day when many N brand fans will be shown the new cornering [capabilities of E-GMP]”.

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The Korean carmaker has its own research and development centre at the famous Nürburgring circuit in Germany – testing up to 15 vehicles annually, and with each car driving 480 laps of the 21 kilometre track.

“It will be very exciting to run the Nürburgring with an E-GMP [electric vehicle] that has undergone a specialised development process for N,” Biermann said in July 2021.

“In certain corners, E-GMP may overwhelm high-performance cars with internal combustion engines.”