Move over Kia EV6 GT. The real performance monster from Hyundai Group has been unleashed.

HOW drive-focused can an electric car hope to be?

That’s the question Hyundai believes can be optimistically answered with the Ioniq 5 N, it’s first battery-dedicated performance model.

Unveiled at Britain’s biggest car celebration, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the model that the South Korean maker vows will live up to promise of being one of the most fun-to-drive EVs yet has already been signed up for by Hyundai NZ and says it will be here in 2024. A dedicated website to register interest has been set up: hyundai.co.nz/ioniq-5-n.

Exactly when it will come to meet rivals - including the Mustang Mach-E GT, Tesla Model 3 Performance and, of course, the $139,900 Kia EV6 GT - and for how much has yet to be shared.

As was expected, developing an N edition of the car that held New Zealand Car of the Year, as awarded by the national motoring writers’ guild, in 2022 was no easy task.

Hyundai’s N division, which has been making hotrods of factory product since 2017 - starting with the i30 N hatch in three-door manual form - said today a significant amount of re-engineering went into creating a car that it felt is able to live up to the three cheesy brand statement pillars: Corner Rascal, Racetrack Capability and Everyday Sportscar.

Everyone is fixated by outputs, so let’s handle that one first.There are two electric motors powering the Ioniq 5 N - one for each axle.

In normal driving, total peak power is 454kW - that’a 24kW more than the sibling EV6 GT. When the N Grin Boost is engaged, there's up to 485kW, for “a short period of time.”

There are three different selectable traction levels for the launch control, too, with 0-100kmh quoted at 3.4 seconds. So, 0.1s quicker than the EV6 GT, Kia’s fastest car.

Hyundai has worked hard on the thermal management of the battery - a 84kWh (whereas the Kia has a 77.4kWh) pack - to ensure that the Ioniq 5 N can be used reliably on track, allowing the driver to choose from two different battery pre-conditioning modes optimised either for a short burst of power or consistent lapping. It's also possible to specify Endurance or Sprint modes for the battery use, the former designed to extend the range on track at the expense of peak power.

Hyundai has not shared how much torque is generated. It won’t say what the N weighs. And the official WLTP-ratified range is also under wraps. It will accept DC charging at up to 350kW, just like a standard Ioniq.

All that power is pointless unless a car can handle it. It sounds like N division basically tore down the standard Ioniq 5 and made it swallow LOTS of steroids. The body is stiffened up with more welds and adhesive, the mountings for the electric motors and battery have been reinforced, as have the front and rear subframes, while what it calls “WRC-inspired” integrated drive axles are used to reduce weight while coping with the considerable torque outputs produced by the electric motors. The steering system has been overhauled to improve directness and feedback to the driver.

The 'i-Pedal' one-pedal brake energy regeneration system has been rejigged. It’s called the N Pedal and automatically slows the car using brake energy regeneration as the driver turns into a corner, this to trigger “an aggressive weight transfer” with the aim being incredible agility on the entry to a corner. This to counteract the inherent extra weight of an electric car, the brand shares.

Also fitted is N Torque Distribution. Along with variable use of the front and rear motor torque outputs (11 different levels), there's an electronically controlled limited slip differential on the rear axle to distribute the rear motor's torque between the back wheels. It has electronically controlled adaptive damping, too.

Enough? of course not. It’s an N. It gets the N Drift Optimiser, designed to make it easy to drift the car on track, and a Torque Kick Drift function to simulate the 'clutch kick' technique of initiating a drift. Whether it's all gimmicky or not remains to be seen.

For road use, the car has N Road Sense, which looks out for signs indicating a twisty road ahead and then suggests that the drive switches into the more focused N driving mode.

Electrics don’t have gearboxes. Because, well, no gears. However, N has nonetheless sorted the e-shift to makes it feel as if power is being delivered through an eight-speed, dual-clutch gearbox. The motor torque output curve is altered to suit and there are even intentional jolts introduced.

Sound is always tricky. N Active Sound Plus uses eight internal speakers and two outside the car to deliver three distinct sound themes. 'Ignition' is designed to sound like Hyundai's 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engines in its N models; 'Evolution' is a specific "high-performance" sound signature for electric N cars; and 'Supersonic' evokes twin-engine fighter jets.

Stopping is reliant on more than region; the car has the most powerful brakes fitted to a Hyundai yet. There are 400mm discs up front with four-piston monobloc calipers and 360mm rear discs. It’s set up for left-foot braking, if that’s your thing.

All this drama, yet not so much in look. The styling makeover is reasonably modest. It sits 20mm lower and a set of eye-catching 21-inch alloy wheels are standard, there’s a deeper apron with more cooling inlets and an orange stripe along the bottom that carries into the new side skirts and the new rear diffuser, plus a restyled rear bumper and roof spoiler with integrated triangular brake light. The N model gets something lacking the standard car - a rear wiper.

Predominantly black with blue accents, the cabin brings a N-branded steering wheel with a bright red button on the right-hand spoke labelled "NGB" - for N Grin Boost. There are paddles behind to adjust the N e-shift and N Pedal functions.

It has sports-style bucket seats mounted 20mm lower than in the standard Ioniq 5 - addressing a big criticism of the standard car, being that it asks driver’s to sit awkwardly high - and has sports pedals. The centre console has knee pads and shin support.