Hyundai IONIQ 5 N design leaked ahead of reveal

The 2023 Hyundai IONIQ 5 N has been leaked a day before its global debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed tomorrow (July 13), after the Korean brand inadvertently published an official video of the high-performance EV before swiftly taking it back down again.

The correction wasn’t quick enough to prevent internet sleuths nabbing screenshots of Hyundai’s first N-branded EV, which subsequently appeared on Korean automotive spy website, Autospy, revealing an aggressive new take on the IONIQ 5’s signature design.

Finished in obligatory Performance Blue paintwork, the IONIQ 5 N is noticeably lower and wider than its mainstream counterparts and features body-coloured wheel-arch extensions, a unique black front fascia and matching rear bumper, red trim highlights, large-diameter N-spec alloys and a roof spoiler.

All of this lairy N-ness transfers into the interior too, where we find a predictably sportier take on the standard IONIQ 5’s cabin design headlined by an N-spec multi-function steering wheel and dual 12.3-inch digital screens that clearly flaunt a bunch of N-specific displays.

The steering wheel in particular looks like an all-new design not shared with any other Hyundai Motor Group product, featuring a shrunken but chunkier hub adorned with an unmissable N badge as well as a completely different button layout.

The standard IONIQ 5’s haptic controls have all been reorganised and replaced by physical buttons – most likely to avoid miss-hits during spirited or track driving – while the drive mode button looks to have been relocated to the top of the left spoke.

Below that spoke is one of two N drive mode buttons, complemented on the right by the other, above which is a red button likely referring to the N equivalent of Boost mode.

Other changes to the cabin include a redesigned centre console beneath the black (as opposed to white) dash, Performance Blue stitching, trim highlights, ambient lighting and, although we can only see a tiny portion of them on the driver’s side, bucket seats.

The IONIQ 5 N is set to become the most powerful Hyundai model to date and could even eclipse the Kia EV6 GT as the most powerful Hyundai Motor Group vehicle, judging by the rumours of a circa-450kW power output from its dual-motor battery-electric drivetrain.

Hyundai has made plenty of noise about how the IONIQ 5 N will be differentiated from the EV6 GT via its hard-core track capabilities and has even detailed some of the track-specific systems that will help it go harder for longer at a track day.

These include the IONIQ 5 N’s standard drift mode and Sprint and Endurance drive modes, which optimise the car’s energy use for either maximum attack or extended track range, and 400mm brake rotors will be the biggest ever fitted to a production Hyundai.

Stay tuned to our news section and social channels tomorrow night to read our full coverage of the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N’s global reveal.

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