Winners are grinners … this one will convince petrolheads that electric power can deliver their kind of car.

NEW ZEALAND had to wait its turn for this model and it landed hefting international awards, many meted by media.

A week’s driving was never enough - that’s how intoxicating it is.

What reinforced within minutes, all the same, was that every gushing comment you’d previously heard or read was well deserved. And afterward? The test was in June. Hardly a week passed since when the car didn’t crop up in conversation or in thought. It’s more than a favourite memory.

That’s why the $140k Hyundai Ioniq 5 N slam-dunked into selection as the best car MotoringNZ.com tested in 2024.

The mainstream ‘Five’ is an exceptional electric car; but the N is levels above. As an affirmation of it being an amazingly impressive electric execution of everything that letter stands for, it is an opus.

No-one would ever praise a combustion engine car that behaved like an electric. Why, then get excited about an electric that is so utterly convincing in mimicking a performance petrol it had my wife absolutely convinced there was fuel being burned by a non-existent engine under that bonnet and CO2 pumping out the imagined exhaust pipe?

Because it’s N. If you don’t get why that’s important - and some electric car buffs simply won’t - then you just don’t understand what Hyundai’s performance brand does and why it has created huge fan support in its relatively short period of existence.

As stupid as the concept of an EV with baarping fake exhaust noises and an incredibly authentic ‘gear changing’ feel might seem … well, it’s really not. Because it just wouldn’t be an N car without. It is certainly a better kind of N for having those elements. Trust me, it really is.

N is all about exceptional performance. N is also about rivalling the world’s best pedigree mainstream-affiliated performance sub-brands; one it has to better. That is ‘M’ - the BMW specialist whose previous boss, and many of his finest people, were head-hunted from when Hyundai determined it needed a pukka performance division. There are great M cars; but nothing from Munich matches this Hyundai.

When Ioniq went to N, it underwent a very comprehensive rework, not just to the hardware but also the body.

In the sub-marque’s familial ‘hero’ blue (as used by the World Rally Car product) more than the contrasting black detailing front, rear and on the side sills stands out. The N model has additional cooling vents and it gets an aerodynamic overhaul extending to a lower front apron, new roof spoiler and rear diffuser. That's all highlighted by an orange stripe, while the wider tracks are accommodated by beefier bodywork, too.

Twenty-one—inch alloy wheels sit on wide Pirelli P Zero tyres and the ride height is lower than the standard car’s; it has a squat stance all its own. The 'parametric pixel' lights are complemented by 'chequered flag' reflectors in the rear bumper, too.

That motif can be found in the door sills as well on entry to a heavily N-branded interior that's darker in theme than the standard Ioniq 5's. It keeps a five-seat layout, but the front chairs are new low-slung bucket seats with tactile upholstery and illumination of the N logo.

A thick-rimmed steering wheel has paddles behind. The standard twist-forward-to-go drive selector retains though there are additional buttons on the wheel. The pale blue ‘Drive Mode’ opens up a vast menu of customisation options for the driving systems on the touchscreen. A driver's favourite selection of settings can be programmed into two distinct modes, quickly selectable from the N buttons below the spokes of the wheel. The bright red button, meanwhile, is marked "NGB" for N Grin Boost and it allows access to the electric motors' full performance for up to 10 seconds at a time.

There’s a lot here: Powerful electric motors front and rear for all-wheel drive; by default they combine to put out 454kW. Press NGB and that's upped to 478kW. And it's backed up by a huge 770Nm of torque. That helps explain how this 2235kg hatchback hits 100kmh from rest in just 3.4 seconds...

Even when all the performance involvements are in play, there’s nothing about the way the Ioniq 5 N drives on the open road to suggest it beyond edge on the edge of control, but you are very aware that, when absolute settings are engaged, it very much enters a highly involving and utterly enveloping extreme.

Those ‘track’ settings are a clear indicator of brand expectation that a driver will do the right thing, and employ those entertainments in the best environment. That is why it has tracks mapped into it; so that you can data log and improve lap times. The day when that’s allowed on those arenas cannot come too soon.

In the meantime, it does compensate by also being an excellent road car, to point where the argument as to resetting the argument about whether battery cars can be good performance cars.

All I can say is that, if any electric car stands every chance of changing the most sceptical EV-opposed mindset … it’s this one.

Here is a car that’s huge fun to drive … and also happens to be electric. No matter which way you approach it, it’s a brilliant performance opportunity, coming with a brilliantly interactive chassis, superb steering feel and extremely decent brakes.

The tuning is so good you have to consistently remind yourself it’s electric, is quite sizeable and is unavoidably hefting considerable weight. When pushing on, there’s no sense of it being heavy. The delicacy and delightfulness of the balance, in fact, the pedigree driving position and the best seats yet for this product makes this version of Ioniq 5 feel physically smaller and more intimate than any other.

The ingredient that outwardly seems so cheesy is honestly a winner. Without trying them, you will struggle to comprehend how a sound generator and virtual gearbox can truly add another positive layer. Surely there’s nothing like the real thing? Try it and prepared to be astonished.

Dive bombing into corners, nipping the brakes and smacking down a cog or two on point of entry, steering the car on the throttle … it’s mad that an electric can emulate the N-crafted petrol models so accurately.

Yes, the ride is firm; not to point of rattling your bones, but you’re aware that this is the sporty one. While assuming that press fleet product always gets a hard life, the state of the tyres on this one suggested it’ll be going through those more rapidly than any other version. But that’s just the case with performance car.

Of course, drive it hard and, yes, the battery will deplete accordingly. It’s not absolutely crippled by this - you would confidently see around 380kms from a charge even when having a bit of fun - and, of course, if it operates with a very light foot, that range would be higher again. All the same, the consumption rate does highlight how prescient it was for Hyundai to have created an 800 volt platform, allowing for very fast DC replenishment.