Hyundai Ioniq 6 N high-performance electric car around the corner
The Hyundai N performance-car line-up is poised to expand to include the Ioniq 6 electric sedan, Drive understands – and it may be even faster than the Ioniq 5 N.
A Hyundai Ioniq 6 N electric car – with more performance than any other road-going Hyundai ever built – may be due in 2025, Drive understands.
While plans for a high-performance Ioniq 6 N are yet to be confirmed, Drive understands the vehicle – which will become the second electric Hyundai N car – is currently in development.
Given the two to 2.5-year gap between the unveilings of the regular Ioniq 5 and hot Ioniq 5 N – and the mid-2022 debut of the standard Ioniq 6 – it is due in showrooms by 2025, pending any delays.
Drive understands the Ioniq 6 N may be even faster – and potentially more powerful – than the Ioniq 5 N, and raise the benchmark set by the recently-revealed 478kW/770Nm Ioniq 5 N.
Hyundai claims the Ioniq 5 N can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.4 seconds, and complete two consecutive laps of the 20.832km-long Nurburgring race track in Germany in under eight minutes without overheating and losing power.
It also has a variety of driving modes that emulate the driving experience of a petrol car.
Hyundai has signalled its desire to build an N-tuned Ioniq 6 with the RN22e concept, unveiled last year – and tested by Drive on race tracks in Australia and Germany.
The RN22e is based on the production Ioniq 6 – which shares its E-GMP electric-car platform with the Ioniq 5, as well the Ioniq 5 N, which adds a stiffer body shell, strengthened subframes, and upgraded suspension, in addition to more powerful motors, a different battery and larger brakes.
However, the forthcoming Ioniq 6 N has the scope to increase performance beyond the Ioniq 5 N, which itself brings a host of new driving features, technologies and performance for the South Korean car brand.
Speaking to Drive at a preview of the Ioniq 5 N in Sweden earlier this year, Albert Biermann – former Hyundai N boss turned senior technical advisor for the company – admitted the Ioniq 6 "[would be] a very nice car for N."
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is approximately 4.7 metres long, using a 3000mm wheelbase. The Ioniq 6 uses a slightly shorter wheelbase (2950mm) but has a longer, more aerodynamically efficient body.