Many car companies<\/span> have crazy-performance sub-brands that cater both to auto engineers\u2019 genetic predisposition to show off, and customers for which normal acceleration and handling simply isn\u2019t hairy enough. BMW<\/a> has its M division, Range Rover<\/a> has SVR, or Special Vehicle Operations, Hyundai<\/a> has N.<\/p>\n The \u201cN\u201d apparently refers to two things: the Namyang district in South Korea, home of Hyundai’s Global Research & Development Center, where N was founded; and the N\u00fcrburgring<\/a> in Germany, where all the N models are tested at ridiculous speed until, one presumes, their tires explode in clouds of shredded rubber.<\/p>\n Well, Hyundai has its first electric N model, the Ioniq 5 N. WIRED was mighty impressed with 2021\u2019s vanilla Ioniq 5<\/a> and found it hard to fault. One criticism we did have at the time was that some might have expected the EV<\/a> to be a touch sportier. The 5 N is here to address this flaw\u2014perhaps to an excessive degree. It\u2019s also clear that Hyundai has developed this Ioniq 5 on steroids with the intent that it be what most auto obsessives call a \u201cproper driver\u2019s car,\u201d whether you\u2019re into electric or not.<\/p>\nAudio Illusion<\/h2>\n
![\"Hyundai](\"https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/668c4a6c856a7b0b01d285ca\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/hyundai-ioniq-5-n-barcelona-0324-105.jpg\")