It’s an N-tastic day with two concepts and confirmation the Ioniq 5 is going feral.

TWO concepts made public and an (unseen) reality: That’s the wrap for Hyundai’s N Day announcement today.

N Day? Yes, a new one to put into the calendar. July 15 is designated celebration day for the South Korean performance brand, starting from now.

It went big on the inaugural moment, confirming that next year will come the first N electric, a version of the Ioniq 5. But that was it, just a single sentence of affirmation about the future role for the current New Zealand Car of the Year. No car to see.

Instead, the spotlight went onto two other battery-fed design studies, which might one day come into real-life shape. Let’s hope.

The N Vision 74 and the RN22e that feature in today’s video are two very different "rolling lab" electric concepts built with the singular goal of exploring the future of high performance.

The naming convention and gloriously retro wedge of the first is explained by it being inspired by a stillborn coupe version of the make’s first export car to New Zealand, the 1970s’ Pony hatch. Only in shape. The N Vision 74 is a rear-drive car with a hydrogen fuel cell, making 500kW.

The RN22e, meantime, is plainly spun from the new Ioniq 6 sedan arriving here at year-end. But the brand won’t call it an Ioniq 6 N. Yet it says the model could preview a future EV N model.

The brand says the RN22e and N Vision 74 are inspirational examples of N’s electrification vision and serve to demonstrate Hyundai Motor’s ambition to become a leader in the zero-emissions future.

Hyundai Motor explains the ‘rolling labs’ are where it tests and verifies the company’s advanced technologies to apply them to future production models. RN22e melds the all-new IONIQ 6 and the company’s Electric-Global Modular Platform (E‑GMP), while setting a new standard in high-performance EVs. Meanwhile, N Vision 74 combines EV technology with an advanced hydrogen fuel cell system, making it Hyundai N’s first hydrogen hybrid rolling lab to explore ‘driving fun’ in the electrification era.

“RN22e and N Vision 74 play an important role in the strategic development of our entire product lineup, especially our electrified, high-performance vehicles,” said Thomas Schemera, the brand’s executive vice president and head of customer experience division.

“Rolling labs represent the continuous development of our most advanced technologies. This unique approach makes us ready for the challenges of the future by empowering us to push ourselves to the limit.”

Both RN22e and N Vision 74 will continue to be tested and verified by Hyundai’s engineers, so future N road cars can be equipped with their advanced technologies.

RN22e is tested to maximise N’s three performance pillars, starting with ‘corner rascal.’ N has been developing cornering capability since the brand launch and has been providing e-LSD, Corner Carving Differential, for most N models.

“RN22e elevates the corner carving feel with inevitably heavier weight, by exploring torque vectoring by twin clutch. Moreover, the 3D printed parts reduce weight and keep the rigidity for better corner attack. Equipped with AWD, RN22e provides optimized torque distribution according to different drive modes that allows drivers to choose the torque power on the front and rear wheels.”