Review: The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N offers electrifying performance and everyday usability

If you’ve been wanting an electric vehicle that drives, sounds and feels like a “normal” car — and can be absolutely, off-the-handle crazy — the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is for you. The Ioniq 5 N marks Hyundai’s bold entry into the ever developing, high-performance EV space. 

As with its other N products, the Ioniq 5 N is a hoot. It combines the best of the brand’s engineering and puts it together in a hilariously fun yet practical driving experience. Yes, it's an EV, but Hyundai has gone to great lengths to make it feel like a regular, internal combustion-powered car. And you know what? It’s pretty awesome.

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Photo courtesy of Hyundai

Performance you can feel and hear

All EVs are fast. They just are. And honestly, the constant torque shove of an EV can get kind of boring. But, it doesn’t take long in the Ioniq 5 N to realize that this isn’t your average EV. Sure, in certain settings it’s a standard EV. But, play around with the settings a bit, and the Ioniq 5 N morphs into a crazed, internal combustion car.

It revs and changes gears, and there’s even a torque curve and drama in the power delivery. It even sounds like a normal car inside the cabin, with fake engine noise played through the sound system, thanks to Hyundai’s N Active Sound+ system. Heck, there’s even an engine rumble produced by the speakers.

You can feel it in the door panels, the seats and the steering wheel. While it definitely doesn’t sound 100% authentic, it certainly does a decent imitation, which you may or may not like. Hyundai, why not offer more engine sounds? A V8, V10 or even an F1 V12 sound would be met with open arms.

It’s also very, very fast. The Ioniq 5 N produces 641 horsepower and 567 pound-feet of torque, courtesy of its dual motor setup and N Grin Boost mode that allows you to tap the full amount of power for 10 seconds. Car and Driver reported a 3.0 second 0-60 mph time and an 11.1 second quarter mile. Impressive. 

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Photo courtesy of Hyundai

But where the Ioniq 5 N shines isn’t in its raw power and short, stoplight drags. It’s in how complete the new N package is. The handling, thanks to the N-tuned suspension and electronic limited-slip differential, is astounding.

This is a heavy car, nearly 5,000 pounds, but it’s so endlessly enjoyable to drive and chuck around. The ride can be a little stiff depending on the setting, but we kept ours in the most comfortable setting and it was perfect for daily driving.

Make no mistake, though, as good as this car is for daily driving, it’s bred and prepped for hard track use. It has the largest brakes ever fitted to a Hyundai, and the engineers went to great lengths to give you the customizations, menus and settings you’d want if you were to track this monster.

Practicality and comfort

For a performance EV, the Ioniq 5 N is shockingly practical. Technically, the Ioniq 5 N is an SUV, but we don’t buy it. It’s been lowered and looks every part a hot hatch. Regardless, the Ioniq 5 N’s proportions mean you get ample interior space, a very roomy back seat and a generous and super usable cargo area.

The flat floor and hidden storage compartments make the most of the interior space and can easily accommodate a family of five for short trips and running errands around town. The front and back seats are especially comfortable. The front seats are sporty but not too heavily bolstered. We never found them restricting, and we appreciated how supportive they were. 

Photo courtesy of Hyundai

The backseat can slide forward and back, recline and offers a shocking amount of legroom, even for adults. It’s an amazing use of space and makes a compelling case for the Ioniq 5 N to be one of the best daily drivers on the market today.

In typical Hyundai fashion, the infotainment, screens and buttons are all easy to use and navigate. If anything, the engineers went a little overboard in their performance pages and customization menus. Some simplification here via a software update would be appreciated. 

The gear selector shaft is also a bit of a curious design, as we’ve seen in other Hyundai products. It’s cool, but we worry that it might get bumped and break. As serious as the Ioniq 5 N’s performance is, its practicality is just as rewarding. We drove this car all over the place, doing pretty much all the driving you can imagine with it and it was truly joyful and easy to use.

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Range enough for daily driving

Range remains one of the Ioniq 5 N’s few compromises. Officially, it’s rated for 260 miles per charge, but our real-world testing resulted in much less than that. To be fair, most EVs achieve far less range than advertised in real-world driving, especially here in Utah, with our fluctuating elevations and temperatures. Still, only eking out about 190 miles per charge isn’t super confidence-inspiring for longer drives.

So while not a road trip vehicle, the Ioniq 5 N remains perfectly capable of being your daily driver if you’re able to charge at home. We charged the vehicle once during our time with it, using an Electrify America station, and it was shockingly slow — and expensive. If you’re considering an Ioniq 5 N, a home charger is a must.

Photo courtesy of Hyundai

Performance and practicality — for a cost

There aren’t many options for the Ioniq 5 N besides paint, and our tester priced out at nearly $69,000. Not cheap. Factor in additional costs such as frequent high-performance tire replacement and higher electricity consumption in its performance modes, and we can see ownership of the Ioniq 5 N getting pretty pricey.

However, for an EV with this level of super impressive performance, it’s still more affordable than rivals such as the Tesla Model X Plaid or the Audi e-Tron GT. From that perspective, and given that the Ioniq 5 N is faster than most Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches, the Ioniq 5 N might actually be a decent value.

Final thoughts

The Ioniq 5 N is one of the coolest cars we’ve driven in the last few years. It plays its roles well as a serious performer and a fun, practical and versatile daily driver. It looks like nothing else on the road and is sure to get some attention, especially in its optional matte blue paint. Its range does suffer, though, and the tires probably won’t last more than 10,000 miles. Those qualms aside, it’s a tempting choice if you can charge at home.

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Photo courtesy of Hyundai

Highs

• Thrilling performance

• Eye-catching and practical design

• High-tech cabin

• Drives and sounds like a regular car

• Extremely versatile and well-rounded

• The most personality in an EV yet

Cons

• Mediocre range

• Public charging is unreliable and expensive

• The ride can be firm in some settings

• High price tag

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