2027 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

The Story

With 641 horsepower and a 163-mph top speed, the Ioniq 5 N EV delivers performance more like a car than an SUV.

The standard Hyundai Ioniq 5 won plenty of accolades, including two consecutive Car and Driver EV of the Year awards, right out of the gate. Not content to rest on its laurels, however, Hyundai followed it up with the Ioniq 5 N, a performance variant that easily exceeded expectations. Though it shares its basic compact SUV shape with its less exciting sibling, the N packs a pair of electric motors good for 641 horsepower in boost mode, enough oomph to punt it to 60 mpg in just 3.0 seconds in C/D testing. It handles like a sports sedan too, as proven at our Lighting Lap racetrack event.

Hyundai also worked to imbue the Ioniq 5 N with personality, equipping it with both gas-engine-mimicking audio and software that simulates the behavior of an automatic transmission with a manual-shift mode. You use the N’s steering-wheel paddles to shift through simulated gears, accompanied by the strident thrum of a gas engine’s revs rising and falling. Remarkably, the 5 N pulls off the charade admirably. In addition to its performance potential, it can dial the sound and fury down to near-silence and transport up to five passengers and their stuff in relative comfort for up to 210 miles, as estimated by the EPA.

Expert Tip: The Ioniq 5 N delivers a lot of thrills, but the regular Ioniq 5 with the dual-motor AWD is pretty darn quick on its own and starts at about $20k less.

After adopting the Tesla-style NACS charging port for 2026, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N carries over into 2027 with minimal changes. Car and Driver calculates your car’s value in three free and easy steps - using the same Black Book® data dealers use to appraise vehicles.

The Ioniq 5 N comes with a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive configuration that makes 601 horsepower—most of the time. When the N Grin Boost feature is used, the powertrain can temporarily spin up a maximum of 641 horsepower. Its all-wheel-drive system gives drivers the ability to distribute the bulk of that power to the front or rear wheels as desired. There’s even a dedicated drift mode that inspires enough confidence to let you hang the tail out in lurid slides.

Four different modes (Eco, Normal, Sport, and N) adjust the steering weight, damping, and throttle sensitivity. There are also Endurance and Sprint modes to either preserve the Ioniq 5 N’s battery range or unlock maximum power for tasks such as qualifying or drag racing. To make the N feel more like a high-performance gas-powered car with a multi-speed automatic, Hyundai has programmed in a simulated gearshift feature dubbed “N e-Shift” that replicates the feel of a shift when you pull the steering-wheel-mounted paddles. Combined with the N Active Sound +, we found the Ioniq 5 N surprisingly adept at its quest to emulate the sound and feel of an internal combustion car with an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. (The simulated shifting and engine-sound system can be turned on and off.).

Since our initial test drive conducted on a racing circuit in South Korea, we’ve had plenty of seat time in the 5 N. We find the 5 N does a commendable job of tracking straight during all-out launches and under hard ABS engagement on mixed-traction surfaces. Handling is balanced and controllable when you want it to be, but the drift mode allows you to hang the tail out when it’s time for more fun. On the road, the Ioniq 5 N can be almost as comfortable as a standard Ioniq 5 or, dialed up to its sportiest settings, transformed into a corner-conquering hero.

In Comparison: The related Kia EV6 GT needs 3.2 seconds to complete the same acceleration run, even though it now boasts the same output as its Hyundai cousin. The Ioniq 5 XRT required 4.5 seconds to reach 60 mph.

The Ioniq 5 N comes with an 84.0-kWh battery pack that can charge on a DC connection at up to 238 kW. The EPA estimates the Ioniq 5 N’s range at 221 miles per charge in mixed driving. On our highway fuel-economy test route, we managed a decent 190 miles before the battery depleted.

Hyundai says the Ioniq 5 N can complete two laps of the Nürburgring Nordschleife before losing any of its performance. The company also claims that in Endurance mode, it can complete twenty minutes of track time, recharge in another 20 minutes on a DC connection, and then complete another 20 minutes of track time.

The EPA estimates that the Ioniq 5 N should deliver 84 MPGe city, 72 MPGe highway, and 78 MPGe combined. MPGe stands for miles per gallon of gas equivalent, an EPA metric that estimates PHEV and EV vehicle fuel efficiency.

In our testing, a 2025 5 N averaged just 69 MPGe, but that’s not a huge surprise in an EV that begs to be driven all out. For more information about the Ioniq 5 N’s fuel economy, visit the EPA’s website.

Why It Matters

Hyundai also worked to imbue the Ioniq 5 N with personality, equipping it with both gas-engine-mimicking audio and software that simulates the behavior of an automatic transmission with a manual-shift mode.

CarMotion Daily’s Take

First Row: Those who’ve been inside the regular Ioniq 5 will find the N’s interior familiar, but Hyundai has added several performance-oriented features that heighten the experience. Watch this space over the coming weeks. Markets rarely reward single announcements — execution over the next two to four quarters is what closes the gap between press release and customer. How this lands depends less on the announcement itself and more on the rollout, dealer support, and after-sales story behind it. Specifics on pricing, availability, and regional rollout will tell us whether this moves from headline to delivery. Independent verification and follow-up coverage from rival outlets tend to firm up the picture within days.