Yahoo Autos Hyundai Says a High-Performance Ioniq N EV Is "Not Fully Crazy"
If a report from Automotive News is to be believed, Hyundai might soon get on board with the emerging trend toward desirable, cool electric cars. The brand’s head of high-performance development, Albert Biermann, recently entertained the notion of a performance-oriented Ioniq Electric variant, saying that it would be “not fully crazy” for Hyundai's nascent N sub-brand to give the all-electric hatchback a sporty makeover.
The prerequisites for creating such a vehicle supposedly would involve both powertrain and chassis upgrades. A bigger battery, a more powerful electric motor, and a new inverter would supply the extra grunt, while the suspension would be tweaked to match. Biermann didn’t say for sure that this Ioniq EV N is happening, but the fact that he’s considering such a vehicle means it’s within the realm of possibility. He has discussed a vague timeline for electrification being incorporated into the N portfolio, saying that it’s essentially unavoidable once you start looking past 2021.
Currently, the Ioniq Electric makes a paltry 118 horsepower and 218 lb-ft of torque. In our testing, those figures were enough to propel the Ioniq to 60 mph in 8.6 seconds. The car’s 28.0-kWh battery pack can deliver an EPA-estimated 124 miles of range, so a hypothetical N version with a bigger battery likely would surpass that number in addition to injecting some pep in the Ioniq’s step. We can all hope (a little) that a potential Ioniq N EV might even wear the same nifty red-colored body accents as the Veloster N, as we’ve illustrated in the image above.
Were Hyundai to N-ify the Ioniq, it’d join the ranks of Tesla and BMW in offering zestier electrics to customers. Tesla sells Performance versions of every member of its lineup, while BMW recently upped the ante for its i3 by adding an S model with additional power. Hyundai has been making some bold moves as of late, including launching the N performance sub-brand and building out the Genesis luxury brand, but how likely is it to marry the former with an EV? When reached for a response to Biermann’s statements, Hyundai said that the comments were made during a “general discussion of Hyundai’s N division and potential opportunities as it moves forward.” So, maybe.
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