Although the first reviews of the Ioniq 5 N are just coming out, a juicy rumor indicates Hyundai is already working on the second electric N model. Believed to be in development, the Ioniq 6 N is said to come out as early as 2025, according to a new report from Australian magazine Drive. That’s not all too surprising considering last year’s RN22e concept was a window into the possible future of a high-performance sedan without a combustion engine.
The Ioniq 6 N is said to outpunch its crossover sibling with a dual-motor setup believed to develop more than 641 horsepower. Torque isn’t mentioned, but we’ll remind you the Ioniq 5 N is good for a combined 545 lb-ft. Drive goes on to speculate it could be even quicker than the high-riding model, which needs 3.2 seconds to reach 60 mph from a standstill.
Hyundai RN22e
The Ioniq 6 N should be a smidge lighter seeing as how a regular dual-motor variant weighs roughly 60 pounds less than the equivalent Ioniq 5 with all-wheel drive and the same bigger 77.4-kWh battery. A lower center of gravity seems like an educated guess given the swoopy shape of the sedan.
When Hyundai unveiled the RN22e last year, it referred to the concept as a “glimpse of an upcoming EV N.” It had 577 hp on tap, perfectly matching the Kia EV6 GT. The RN22e is serving as a testbed for high-performance applications of the E-GMP platform. However, the N division is not giving up on cars with combustion engines just yet. In fact, the next Elantra N is expected to adopt a bigger gasoline engine without any electrification.
Future electric N models are likely to be more widespread than gas ones since stricter emissions regulations are gradually killing high-powered ICEs. It’s especially true in the European Union where sales of new cars that generate emissions will be banned from 2035. In the meantime, Euro 7 regulations set to come into effect in a couple of years have been watered down but the era of gas-guzzling, non-hybrid engines is almost over.
The future seems inevitably electric, and Hyundai wants to keep fun cars alive with motors and batteries instead of combustion engines and fossil fuels.
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