SPYSHOTS: 2025
#hyundai #ioniq #ioniq6 #ioniq6n #spy
Since Hyundai launched the Ioniq 6 in June 2022, people have imagined a performance N variant. One month later, the Korean carmaker obliged with the RN22e prototype, an extreme take on the performance EV theme. The Ioniq 6 N launch is definitely happening, as our photographers caught a prototype testing around the Nürburgring race track, where it is honing its racing skills.
As emission regulations tighten around the globe, carmakers find it harder to sell performance ICE models. Powerful combustion engines have remained the privilege of luxury carmakers. In the lower echelons of the market, carmakers have tried to promote electric vehicles as a worthy alternative. However, this might be more difficult than people imagined.
Not because EVs lack the power needed for exhilarating performance, but maybe because they don't. Almost all electric models, especially Teslas, rely on a ridiculous amount of power. This makes producing an electric car to rule them all even more difficult. But that is just one side of the problem. The other one is that electric vehicles are heavy chunks of plastic and metal. Just like elephants, they might be powerful but far from agile. Teaching an elephant to dance on a racetrack might be the hardest.
And yet, carmakers have pushed the boundaries of what can be done in this area. The Tesla Model S Plaid showed that a heavy electric car can be very good even on a demanding racetrack like the Nürburgring. Hyundai is another carmaker that is in the process of defying the laws of physics with its N lineup. Not the combustion sportscars like Elantra N, which will never see a successor. I'm talking about the electric N models, like the Ioniq 5 N, launched in July 2023.
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