"High-Performance Car Commitment" Chairman Chung Euisun's 10 Years of Support... Culminating in Ioniq 5N

Hyundai Motor Company's high-performance brand N unveiled its first high-performance electric vehicle, the Ioniq 5 N, on the 13th (local time), creating a new wave. With the launch of a vehicle that encompasses the two seemingly incompatible areas of high performance and eco-friendliness, the leadership of Chung Euisun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, who has been fully supporting the high-performance brand N for the past decade, is once again drawing attention.

At the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Chairman Chung emphasized, "We need not only horses to pull carriages but also racehorses that fight in wars or run fast," adding, "Because there is great synergy when technologies acquired from high-performance cars are applied to regular cars, developing high-performance cars is an essential area for Hyundai Motor."

Chung Euisun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group [Photo by Hyundai Motor Group]

From Motorsports to Mass Production of High-Performance Cars... The Birth of Hyundai Motor's High-Performance Brand N

Hyundai Motor's high-performance brand N started in 2015 with the goal of developing vehicles that offer the "fun of driving." When launching the brand, Hyundai Motor presented three core high-performance DNAs: ▲Corner Rascal (cornering ability on curved roads) ▲Everyday Sports Car ▲Race Track Capability.

The launch of the high-performance brand N was possible thanks to the solid foundation of Hyundai Motorsport, established in 2013. After declaring its challenge to the world’s top motorsport competition, the World Rally Championship (WRC), at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, Hyundai Motor established Hyundai Motorsport in Alzenau, Germany, in 2013.

Ioniq 5 N unveiled at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Photo by Hyundai Motor Group

Hyundai Motor honed its vehicle performance in numerous motorsport competitions including the WRC, TCR World Tour (formerly WTCR), and the N?rburgring 24-hour endurance race. In 2017, it introduced the first production race car under the N brand, the i30 N TCR, followed by the Veloster N TCR in 2019 and the Avante N TCR in 2020, all circuit race cars with excellent marketability.

In 2019, after six years of participating in the WRC, Hyundai Motor became the first Korean team to win the manufacturers' championship overall. The following year, Hyundai Motor again secured the manufacturers' championship in the WRC, proving that its high-performance technology had reached a world-class level.

Participation in Eco-Friendly Motorsports... Presenting a Vision for High-Performance Electrification

As the global automotive market paradigm shifted to electrification, the need for high-performance electric vehicles that offer driving enjoyment emerged. Hyundai Motor developed the electric race car Veloster N ETCR and competed in the PURE ETCR (Electric Touring Car Racing), a touring car race based on pure electric vehicles, in 2021 and 2022. Additionally, it demonstrated the potential for sustainable motorsports by providing electric charging to ETCR race cars using hydrogen fuel cell generators.

i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
Photo by Hyundai Motor Company

From the 2022 WRC season, new technical regulations based on hybrid powertrains rather than internal combustion engines were applied. Hyundai Motor participated in the competition with the i20 N Rally1 hybrid race car, which combines a 1.6ℓ 4-cylinder engine with a 100kW electric motor.

In 2022, Hyundai also introduced two rolling labs featuring N brand electrification technologies. The Rolling Lab RN22e, the first E-GMP-based high-performance vehicle of the N brand, played a crucial role in the birth of the Ioniq 5 N. The hydrogen hybrid Rolling Lab N Vision 74 is expected to provide know-how for developing sustainable high-performance vehicles beyond the electric vehicle era into the more distant future.

RN22e(front) and N Vision 74(rear) [Photo by Hyundai Motor Group]

Hyundai Motor’s High-Performance and Electrification Technology Concentrate: 'Ioniq 5 N'

Hyundai Motor’s vision, focused on developing high-performance electrified vehicles, materialized through the Ioniq 5 N. The Ioniq 5 N boasts overwhelming driving performance with a maximum output of 478 kW (650 horsepower, boost mode), maximum torque of 770 Nm (78.5 kgf·m, boost mode), and a high-capacity 84.0 kWh battery.

Hyundai Motor has developed various hardware technologies such as high-performance vehicle suspensions and braking systems through its internal combustion engine N models. Through dedicated electric vehicles like the Ioniq 5, it has also elevated software control technologies for BMS (Battery Management System), thermal management, and high-performance driving to a high level.

Ioniq 5 N participating in the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK
[Photo by Hyundai Motor Group]

By consolidating these technological capabilities, the Ioniq 5 N was born. The Ioniq 5 N features various high-performance electric vehicle N-exclusive technologies, including N Pedal mode, which uses regenerative braking to assist sharp cornering; N Drift Optimizer, which optimally distributes driving force to the front and rear wheels to enable smooth drifting; and the thermal management system N Battery Preconditioning, which optimally manages battery temperature according to driving purposes.

A Hyundai Motor official said, "The high-performance electric vehicle Ioniq 5 N embodies the highest level of technology accumulated over the years and the time spent challenging innovation," adding, "We will provide driving enjoyment even in the electrification era and firmly establish leadership in the global electric vehicle market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.