► Hyundai N brings high performance to EVs
► First look: Hyundai RN22e and N Vision 74
► Ioniq 5 N confirmed, two super-EVs shown
N is to Hyundai as M is to BMW: it’s the go-faster division charged with turning the company’s humdrum hatchbacks into giant killers – and has achieved considerable success with the i30 N and i20 N hot hatch tearaways. Now it’s time for a fresh stir of the alphabet soup, as N meets EV.
The fruits of the project have now been shown, with a pair of high-performance electric cars revealed at the Busan motor show in July 2022. The RN22e and N Vision 74 show what happens when Korean engineers and designers are let loose to reimagine a future where EVs are still capable of thrilling as much as the most raucous petrol car.
There’s quite a lot to decode here, so let’s look at each in turn.
Revealed: our best hot hatches
Hyundai RN22e: a go-faster, motorsport-spec Ioniq 6
The freshly unveiled Ioniq 6 electric streamliner four-door is the foundation of the RN22e – pepped up with a motorsport-inspired makeover and some pretty serious aero addenda peppering the bodywork.
This is no mere pie-in-the-sky skunkworks project; Hyundai has confirmed the Ioniq 5 N will be launched in 2023 and as the two cars share the same Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), what you see here is very close to what the production 5 N and 6 N will likely feature.
Electric motors on both axles provides all-wheel drive and some pretty serious firepower, with combined peak outputs of 577bhp power and 538lb ft of torque. It’s no surprise shadows the Kia EV6 GT’s totals.
The Hyundai RN22e will be quick then, although officials remain annoyingly tight-lipped on final figures, saying only that its top speed is ‘over 155mph.’ At least we know about the 400mm disc brakes to wipe off all that speed.
Hyundai has confirmed the N models will use torque vectoring via a twin-clutch to shuffle power from front to rear, allowing drivers to select more RWD handling (presumably in a drift mode to allow the skiddy slides shown in the lead photograph above).
Look out also for N Sound+ which artificially generates a sound inside and outside the car while N e-Shift apparently replicates the thrill of gearchanges. We sincerely hope these combustion hangovers aren’t too naff or backwards-facing in an electric car…
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Hyundai N Vision 74: a fuel-cell prototype wrapped in the body of a mid-1970s Pony concept
Now for something completely different. The N Vision 74 is like a Back To The Future mash-up of the company’s Pony Coupe concept car from 1974, a Delorean and a rolling testbed for its hydrogen fuel-cell developments.
For under that clean-skinned, retro bodywork measuring 4952mm long and 1995 wide lie the innards of Hyundai’s latest fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) architecture that’s been under development for more than a decade.
This one is entirely rear-wheel drive and the spec sheet details max power of over 670bhp and 664lb ft of twist with energy provided from ‘a hybrid structure of a battery-electric in combination with an FCEV system, which is placed in an all-new [mid-engined] layout.’
The N Vision 74 is a reminder that our motoring future is not one-dimensional. Although battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are winning the day in Europe, many manufacturers continue to develop fuel-cells and other solutions that may feature in a fragmented future motoring landscape.
With a range of 373 miles on one charge and a top speed of more than 155mph, it seems the lure of cutting-edge hydrogen power and a gloriously 1980s-inspired exterior design could prove a match made in heaven.
We’ll update this page on Hyundai’s latest rolling labs in the weeks ahead, as we learn more about the RN22e and N Vision 74.
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