We all know electric cars can go fast in a straight line, but Hyundai is determined to convince us that they can be just as exciting in the twisty bits, and has lined up the new Ioniq 5 N against the company’s own WRC rally car to prove it.
The Ioniq is the first electric car from Hyundai’s N performance division and the WRC weapon is the two-door i20 N Rally 1. The i20 isn’t electric, but it is electrified, its 1.6-liter turbocharged inline four getting a helping hand from a hybrid power pack to produce over 500 hp (507 PS) and a sub-4-second zero to 62 mph (100 km/h) time.
Over in the camouflage corner, the hot Ioniq 5 N is keeping its power and performance cards close to its chest until nearer the full reveal in July, which is also why it’s still wearing a disguise. But we know it will have plenty in common with the Kia EV6 GT whose E-GMP dual-motor architecture it shares. The Kia makes 576 hp (584 PS) and 545 lb-ft (738 Nm) of torque and gets to 60mph (98 kmh) in 3.4 seconds, but former Hyundai N chief Albert Biermann has previously suggested the Ioniq could have around 600 hp (608 PS).
Related: Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Fully Unveiled For The WRC’s New Hybrid Era
As well as being the first EV from Hyundai’s N team, it’s also the first all-wheel drive N production car and employs various bits of tech to capitalise on that feature and make the Ioniq both agile and, from what Hyundai says, easy for even fairly inexperienced drivers to have fun with.
The key bit of tech appears to be something called the N Drift Optimizer that blends the front and rear torque distribution and adjusts the steering effort, suspension stiffness and e-LSD on the rear axle. The e-LSD isn’t just for showing off in empty parking lots though. Hyundai says it can be very useful in bad conditions such as ice and deep snow, which reminds us of a story a Ferrari engineer told us about how its E-diff was great for getting prototypes out of gravel traps. When the test drivers had overcooked things and disappeared into the sand they could just use a laptop top lock the rear axle 100 percent and the car would drag itself free.
Another bit of tech Hyundai references in a second video covering the wealth of chassis tech is N Torque Distribution. That system is tuned to operate differently depending on which driving mode is selected and works in tandem with the electronically-controlled rear diff.
Where exactly you’re meant to perform all these cool drifts we’re not sure because public roads are often busy and you tend to get black flagged at a track-day the minute you start messing around. But it looks like fun all the same and we’re looking forward to July when we finally get to see the undisguised Ioniq 5 N and find out more about it.
