Seoul sizzler sits $5k above Kia cousin at full RRP.

THE highest performance car ever made by Hyundai is a $134,990 ask here.

In confirming the price this afternoon, Hyundai New Zealand has also signalled it has stock of the spectacularly grunty and adept dual motor Ioniq 5 N in stock, for immediate delivery.

The pricing announcement means the type is $5000 dearer than its near-equivalent from Kia, the EV6 GT, at full retail.

However, there’s a twist to that scenario in that Kia dealers are divesting their EV6 GT demonstrators, apparently as a national campaign, for much less.

Those cars, which are of course plated and are said to have modest mileages, are going for $105,990 - so, $24k below what’s asked for a example fresh from the factory and unregistered.

While Ioniq 5 N is still cheaper to buy in Australia than here, the local sticker is nonetheless a lot lower than RRPs speculated as being likely for NZ.

It is way cheaper than a Porsche Tacan Turbo, which offers similar performance and was benchmarked by Hyundai during the N’s development. The Tacan Turbo starts at $347,000 here.

In every market it sells, the Ioniq N has been more expensive than the Kia - though that scenario only realised after Kia NZ reduced EV6 GT’s RRP in December. When the EV6 GT launched last March, it was a $139,990 proposition.

The Kia and Hyundai products are similarly powerful but comparison is not clear-cut or total.

While the cars are both five-door hatchbacks, have the same dual motor drivetrain, in identical tune - so 478kW/740Nm (briefly up to 770Nm in highest performace mode) – and are treated to sporty enhancements, the total sum of the driving experience will be rather different.

Hyundai says that as spectacular as the N's outputs are, they played only a small part in the design brief, with the true goal being to create an EV that’s engaging enough to satisfy proper petrol heads.

The development team worked on conviction that enthusiast buyer group will always been hardest bunch to win over with a performance EV.

Accordingly, instead of chasing straight-line performance, they’ve engineered solutions to help make their futuristic electric rocket feel and drive like an engaging, petrol-powered hot hatch.

N e-shift and N Active Sound are two such tricks. N e-shift is designed to mimic the shift action of an eight-speed dual-clutch and simulates the ‘jolt’ of up- and downshifts by cutting drive to the electric motors.

The digital instrument cluster even includes a tachometer that runs to 8000rpm and you shift ‘gear’ via the paddles behind the steering wheel.

N Active Sound, meanwhile, uses eight internal and two external speakers to deliver an “emotional” soundtrack that sounds like a combustion car.

It even pops and bangs during downshifts. Three sound ‘themes’ are available: ‘Ignition’ sounds like the 2.0-litre turbo in an i30 N, ‘Evolution’ copies the noise of the RN22e concept and ‘Supersonic’ sounds like a twin-engine fighter jet.

Comment about the car’s prospects and supply availability has been sought from Hyundai NZ chief executive officer Scott Kelsey.

In supplied comment, he said he was immensely excited about introducing the variant here.

“We have developed a loyal following amongst electric vehicle enthusiasts since we launched the original Ioniq back in 2017”.

“The Ioniq 5 N represents the pinnacle in all those years of research and development.

“There has always been a question mark of whether an electric vehicle can represent the enjoyment factor of a combustion vehicle. One quick spin in the Ioniq 5 N is enough to answer this question with a resounding yes.”