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He was officially going to retire anyway. But as a consultant, Albert Biermann still helps launch the sports models in Hyundai’s N division. N stands for Namyang, Hyundai’s Korean development center. And for the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife. They are also known and loved in South Korea.
Biermann knows what he’s doing: He’s been developing at BMW and its sports subsidiary M GmbH for more than 30 years, and has been brushing Hyundai models for high performance since 2015. The first N cars like the i30 N or i20 N were more like finger exercises for him. But with an electric SUV like the Ioniq 5 weighing over two tonnes, the sport becomes challenging. “It’s like making an elephant dance,” Biermann grins.
Up to 650 electric horsepower
A Stromer also has features that promote agility. The battery provides much higher body rigidity than combustion engines. And thanks to the battery, the center of gravity moves much lower. Still, Biermann’s team needed to reinforce the fuselage with subframes, 42 additional welds, and 2.1 meters of structural adhesive.
But performance was no problem: two electric motors with 226 hp (166 kW) at the front and 383 hp (282 kW) at the rear provide 609 hp (448 kW) for the Ioniq 5 N’s all-wheel drive system. If you briefly accelerate the electric motors to a limit of 21,000 revolutions per minute, you can achieve 650 hp (478 kW). Add an electronic differential and you’re done.
Fast over multiple laps
But: “What good is all that horsepower if the car breaks down after just one lap on the race track,” says Biermann. “We need to do two high-speed laps of the Nordschleife in under eight minutes.” Stability therefore became the biggest challenge, especially when it came to cooling the drivetrain and batteries. In addition to the endurance mode, there is now a special racetrack mode that keeps the battery temperature within a comfortable range of 20 to 30 degrees, thanks to additional coolers.
Let’s let the elephant dance. Not at the Nordschleife, but at the Korea International Circuit, the Formula 1 racing circuit where Sebastian Vettel holds the lap record. Elephant? It looks more like a rolling Playstation! The Ioniq 5 N first impresses us with its configuration options, as with cars from M GmbH. The setting options are almost endless, from the accelerator pedal characteristic to left-hand braking, to the manual power distribution of all-wheel drive and the drift program.
Acts like a combustion engine
Second surprise: This electric athlete should also suit internal combustion engine fans. For the typical bouncing rear, the control unit ensures the distribution of the driving force when you set it to the rear axle. The electric motor at the front produces a very realistic, artificial V8 engine sound. And when accelerating, the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission’s shift levels are simulated; you can even engage them manually using the shift paddles and they jolt with every gear change. Mad.
Acceleration is questionable for a hypercar: it accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds and does not stop until 260 km/h. When cornering, the Ioniq clearly understeers due to its weight, but this makes it more controllable. Plus point: If things get critical, the electronic stability program always intervenes, even if you turn it off beforehand out of overconfidence.
Still 450 kilometers range
The Ioniq 5 N can be set tighter for the race track but is also ideal for the road. The net capacity of the battery is 80 kilowatt hours (kWh), which is enough for a range of approximately 450 kilometers. Thanks to 800 volt technology, a maximum charging power of 240 kW is available; This means the battery charged from ten percent to 80 percent in 18 minutes.
Hyundai does not yet specify a standard consumption: in normal road touring this value was 21.6 kWh/100 km. Delivery begins in February 2024, starting from 79,900 francs. This now makes the most powerful production Hyundai the most expensive.
Source: Blick
I’m Ella Sammie, author specializing in the Technology sector. I have been writing for 24 Instatnt News since 2020, and am passionate about staying up to date with the latest developments in this ever-changing industry.
