Hyundai Ioniq 6 N revealed as electric BMW M3 rival with 641bhp

The Hyundai N division’s second electric performance car, the 641bhp Ioniq 6 N, will arrive this autumn as a sharper, keener and “more sophisticated and predictable” follow-up to the lauded Ioniq 5 N.

Speaking to Autocar, Hyundai N founder and vice president Joon Park said the new 6 N will take advantage of its lower saloon silhouette to be a different proposition from its smaller sibling, with which it shares a powertrain.

“We want a different type of driving experience between the two. The 5 N is a bit wilder. The 6 N is more precise,” he said. 

The 6 N is based on the latest facelifted Ioniq 6 but has wider wheel arches to cover a 60mm increase in front and rear track widths. N’s chief designer, Eduardo Ramirez, said every new design element on the 6 N “serves a purpose”. 

There’s a lower nose that “stresses the silhouette”, with a larger front mesh, N-specific winglets to channel air along the body side, and a large rear spoiler that “in combination with the front splitter balances the car’s aerodynamics,” Ramirez said.

The 6 N, shown for the first time at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, shares the same 641bhp and 568lb ft output and four-wheel-drive layout as the 5 N, owing to a 234bhp motor at the front and one making 406bhp at the rear. But “it’s an all-new car, I mean technically,” said Sven Risch, N’s head of chassis control and braking.

There are new motor magnets “to improve performance durability”, said Risch, as well as a 7kWh heater for the 84kWh (total) battery, to quickly bring it to optimum operating temperature.

Significantly, the Ioniq 6 N has a lower centre of gravity than the 5 N. Combined with its increased track width, that helps to make the handling “much more reachable and controllable,” said Risch. “It’s much more sharp.”