From sticky tires to gallons of 93 octane, it feels like every bit of automotive fun these days is getting pricier. We’re in the age of the $37,055 base Subaru BRZ and the $137,850 base Porsche 911, so even for the upper-middle-class, it’s rough out there. Thankfully, Hyundai is bucking the trend by making the ludicrously quick Ioniq 5 N less expensive. Much less expensive.
If you’re looking for a normal electric car, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N probably isn’t for you. It’s quicker than a Lamborghini Urus, comes with a variety of drift modes, will happily lap the Nürburgring without derating, and looks like an overgrown hot hatch raised on Monster Energy and HGH. Its simulated transmission will let you bang it off a fake rev limiter from cold guilt-free, or you can turn the sounds off and simply cruise around town. Driving one feels like seeing a side of the world you’ve never known. A regular Ioniq 5 is great if you want a good electric car. The Ioniq 5 N is great if you want to be really naughty.
However, such performance comes at a price. Last year’s Ioniq 5 N carried an ask of $67,800 including freight. Even with giant-slaying performance, that’s some proper coin for a heavily reworked mainstream electric crossover. Well, Hyundai’s gone and done the right thing for the 2026 model year that’s somehow only finally arriving by lopping $6,300 off the price tag. The new model year Ioniq 5 N starts at $61,500, which leaves room in the budget for a few sets of toasted Pirellis.
Needless to say, this is a rather unusual move. Car companies rarely lower pricing on performance cars by this much, so what’s the catch? What’s been stripped out of the Ioniq 5 N to meet this lower price point? Surprisingly, Hyundai is actually giving the 2026 Ioniq 5 N more standard equipment than the 2025 model. Bet you didn’t expect that.
The headline feature, of course, is a built-in Tesla-style NACS port for easy hookup to Superchargers without an adapter. On the subject of charging, there’s a new hybrid cable included that works with 120-volt and 240-volt outlets. Oh, and because J1772 Level 2 and CCS DC fast charging connectors are still plentiful, the 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N comes with adapters for both. Score.
Beyond that, Hyundai’s improved the N Drift Optimizer to offer 10 stages of sideways, thrown in one-touch automatic up-and-down operation for the rear windows, and added its Forward Attention Warning system to keep tabs on whether the driver’s looking where the car’s going. On the color front, Performance Blue Pearl has joined the party as an update of the N division’s signature color. Regardless of which hue you choose, you still get updated badges.
Add it all up, and Hyundai seems to have made the Ioniq 5 N better while charging less for it. That’s the sort of math I can get behind, making a 641-horsepower grin machine nearly 10 percent more accessible. So, if you’re in the market for a fast family car, give an electric Hyundai a go. That’s a sentence I couldn’t have even imagined ten years ago.
Top graphic image: Hyundai
Cause nothing says “performance driving” like mistimed shifts, amirite?
I assumed Tom was referring to F&F style free-revving…
Well since both the stock P-Zeros and Pilot Cup 4’s are around the same price, that $6300 gets you just under 3 sets of tires you could purchase.
To not add any comment in the article about the ICCU still not having a “fix” other than extending the warranty, and replacing it with the same part, is wild. It can brick your car and last I heard the parts were not in high supply.
IIRC, the fix includes updated firmware, so perhaps they’ve got a functional work around now without having to redesign the hardware.
Our Ioniq 6 CPO already had the ICCU replaced before we got it, so I optimistic this one will last. The 15 year warranty from Hyundai implies they’re confident of the patch. Seems like most EVs have some type of design issue with the electronics or batteries after a year or two, so Hyundai isn’t alone in needing major recalls and repairs
If you search it seems people are still experiencing the issue, and some when on their second ICCU and with the software updates. Hyundai puts a fancy guarantee on a car ’cause he wants you to feel all warm and toasty inside.
It’s a real elephant in the room whenever it comes down to buying these. I took a gamble and haven’t had an issue on my ’22. May just be a matter of time before I’m part of the 10%.
May the odds ever be in your favor. I’ve wanted an Ioniq 5, but not until this is fixed.
A friend has one of these. He has enjoyed it, but he has already had to replace the 12V battery under a year in. And I’m not sure whether they actually fixed the ICCU that’s letting it drain, so he may have another replacement or two before it’s fixed.
If they’ve solved that problem now (which is very likely, since it is a known issue), then all I am waiting for is the capacitive buttons to be replaced with actual buttons. I’ll be very interested then.
I got an Ioniq 5 and have zero complaints about the buttons and touch screens. Other than adjusting the hvac regularly, i rarely touch the screen. The bluetooth works great and auto connects and starts playing media. The car has really good autodrive functions in traffic, so an extra second to push a button is still safer than an older car without it.
What capacative buttons? Are you referring to the ones for climate control, because those are the only capacative buttons in the car, and they work just fine for me.
I am referring to those. I want physical knobs and buttons for climate control and other functions I might use while driving.
Great news, but good luck finding one! Hyundai seems to be shipping very few of these to the US, which makes sense as I’m assuming these are still Korean-built, so they’ll incur more tariffs.
That said, this is still an incredible value. I was just watching a review on the new Macan “Turbo” EV, and it has a nicer interior than the I5N, I guess, but way less back seat room, way less storage space, no one-pedal driving, and identical performance at three times the price.
The Porsche is like $50k more (starting). One certainly hopes it has a nicer interior.
You’re right; I thought the discrepancy was larger for some reason.
However the I5N really doesn’t have “options” other than stuff like floor mats, so the starting price is what one could reasonably expect to pay.
You just know you’re going to need to spend like $20k in options on the Porsche just to get stuff like heated seats and a rear wiper!
The Genesis Magma would be a nice comparison to the Porsche
Or, and I know it’s a bit of an apples to oranges comparison, you could get a very lightly used Macan for close to the same price. Unless you treat it like a 2015 Altima, there’s only so much you can do to a car in less than an oil change’s worth of miles and it would negate the Porsche Configurator price inflation…
I’d rather use the savings to replace those fugly snowflake wheels. Besides those, this is a really good looking car in that red.
“and added its Forward Attention Warning system to keep tabs on whether the driver’s looking where the car’s going.”
This is an excellent reason to get a leftover 2025. I did a fairly long road trip in a friend’s 2025 Ioniq 5 SEL with the same system and the damn thing would. not. shut. up. I swear that coffee icon popped up at least every 15 minutes if I was wearing my polarized sunglasses. I shouldn’t have to choose between having eye strain or getting constantly chastised by a malfunctioning robonanny.
Yes. See also: lane assist. I don’t need a computer tugging at the wheel, for any reason. Turning this shit off is part of the routine of starting the car.
It stays off when you turn it off. I turned it off day one and have had to manually turn it back on the few times I want to try it (and ultimately go back to having it off).
That being said, I wish I could get “dumb” cruise control. I’m not super happy with how it handles traffic ahead and thus changes speeds. I feel like it’s always slowing down somewhat aggressively very far in advanced, no matter what settings I play with. Also, if you leave cruise control on, but step on the “gas” pedal to quickly pass, I feel like it slams full regen upon letting off the pedal. I turn cruise control on/off a lot when I drive now. Not thrilled with that.
What year is your Ioniq 5? Mine doesn’t do that. Even in i-Pedal mode, if I step on the accelerator to pass and then let off, it coasts and takes a while to drop back down to the set speed.
@Ferdinand describes my 2022 experience just right. I yearn for dumb cruise control. I drive almost strictly in Auto.
Related, have either of you experienced excessive snow or even rain that messes with the sensor in the front bumper sensor enough to cause it to prevent the car from doing cruise control or auto front collision stops? Happened to me once over the last 2 years and turned out the part was fine, just dirty or misaligned. Hyundai replaced it for free under warranty.
Yes, in the owners manual it specifies that heavy rain or show can block the sensor. It happened to me once in heavy rain, but I have a Comma so the cruise control didn’t disable itself.
That’s something that can happen on any cars which use radar sensors for longitudinal CC, not just Hyundais.
I just got a ’26 Ioniq 5 and I have yet to have this problem despite wearing polarized sunglasses. The forums seem to have totally inconsistent experiences with it too. Some people never have a problem, others (seemingly fewer, but who knows) have continuous problems.
I’m guessing you drive it pre-software update. Although I never had issues with my Ioniq 5, Hyundai has pushed two software updates since the attention monitoring system was introduced which has largely fixed the problem for sunglasses and eyeglasses wearers.
My partner has a 2025 Ioniq 6 which does not have the FAW system, and it actually nags me much more than my Ioniq 5, regularly complaining that I’m tired and need a break.
I’ve a 24 Ioniq 6 sedan. Not an N, but AWD with a sub 5 second 0-60. In sport mode it’s pretty damn quick and quite responsive for a heavy sedan. The low center of gravity provides confidence in the corners and the power is way more than the grip if you let it loose. Drives nice in a sort of a GT way (ours is a loaded limited trim).
I know everyone has a need for speed, but really a non N Ioniq 2 motor AWD with its instant torque is plenty plenty. I’ve learned to really appreciate the whole “ more fun to driv a slow car fast than a fast car slow” and the N would certainly be a fast car that’s not going to be driven at its limits very often.
That said, IF they were the same price, hell yeah I’d take an N, but not at the premium $$$ over just a 2 motors AWD.
Definitely. I drive a AWD EV6, and it has plenty of power off the line or for highway passing. The N is tempting, but the range hit is a brutal trade for power you can’t really use on the street.
The range is what put me off the N version. Well, and the price a little, but with good roadtrip range and no ICCU issues I could have justified the price. Ended up with a lightly used 2024 LRDM Polestar 2 instead, which is a notch down on speed from the N but still violently quick at lower speeds.
My partner has an AWD Ioniq 6 and I have an AWD Ioniq 5. Despite having literally the exact same motors and power ratings, his Ioniq 6 is significantly faster off the line up to about 20 MPH. I put that down to better grip from the wide 20″ wheels. It’s definitely impressive!
I wonder how bad of a deal these are to lease….
Wait 2 years and get it as a low mileage used CPO at half off the MSRP! That’s how we got our Ioniq 6.
People keep saying this, but the Ioniq 5 N is very rare! It’s difficult to find one for sale new and even harder to find one used. The cheapest used one I’ve seen for sale was in the upper 40s with some miles on it, so not that far off a new one.
The N version doesn’t seem to be depreciating nearly as quickly as the regular ones.
It’s hard to find new because the ’26 model year was just released. So we’ve had basically zero inventory since the ’25 model year ended.
Let’s hope that’s the case, Hyundai brings a ton of these over, and they sell very well!
They wouldn’t need to decrease the price by $6k if they were selling that well.
Consider the Kia EV6 GT. It’s almost as fast and you can find them as low as $26k used.
I keep forgetting that exists! Crazy bargain at that price, with less of a range penalty to boot.
Daughters sig other picked up a 24 last year for only $24k! 2 motor AWD less than 5k miles. Stupid good deal that I found for them at a Kia dealer in Baton Rouge.
Wow, that’s a steal, especially with that mileage!
Nice discount to buy a set of small wheels and skinny tires so I could get better range daily driving and then strap on the stickies for fun stuff. But I’m still too poor, haha.
The NACS port is a game changer for the US market and alleviates some of the concerns related to how awful the range of these things is. People struggle to hit 200 real world miles in these and having plentiful charging along every major interstate is a big upgrade. Enough that I might consider one in a few years if they’re still in production. It would certainly seem like the logical next step for me wouldn’t it?
Rear window wiper is a bigger deal.
5N always had a rear wiper.
This is the corrective info I come here for. You’re right.
NACS doesn’t do much, since most EV owners carry an adapter.
This! And if your car does come with NACS, you’ll want to get adapters for the older J1772 port.
So, for the next 5 years or so, EV’rs should be equipped and willing to go either way.
I don’t judge 😉
Yup. I’ve got NACS. I carry both J1772 and CCS adapters. Haven’t had to use them yet, since I charge mostly at home, but don’t want to get caught without, especially when they are like the size of a soda can.
I have a ’25 Ioniq 5 XRT with NACS. Frankly, right now it’s less convenient than having a CCS/J1772 port because most public, non tesla chargers aren’t NACS yet and I’d rather flatbed my car home than charge at a Tesla supercharger because I’m not giving once cent to Musk or his company. I’ve got both adapters in my car because I have to use them at home and in public 9 times out of 10.
I don’t see how it’s a “game changer” when you could always charge at compatible Superchargers with an adapter.
Also, these days, the Superchargers are often not the best bet. Especially for an 800V car like this.
Could somebody please loan me about $63,000?
Sure. But you won’t like the terms.
Well considering the reported issues that seems like a logical price change until problems are worked out