For those that thought Hyundai's N can only exist with Internal Combustion Engine... Guess again! Hyundai's high-performance will not only survive but thrive in the age of EV!
TO WATCH THE FULL VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Z90bRK1Uz4o
Have you wondered what the fate will be for the high-performance N sub-brand of Hyundai if the internal combustion engine disappears? Just when you thought that everything was going so well for the most talked-about performance division of late?
A case in point is the Veloster N. The DCT version of Hyundai’s compact sports Veloster N has been announced as the fastest front-wheel-drive car by Car and Driver magazine. The 2021 Veloster N has set the new record for a front-wheel-drive car by posting 4.8 seconds in accelerating from stop to 60 mph, beating out the previous champion of the front-wheel-drive cars, Honda Civic Type-R, which posted 5.1-seconds. For comparison, 306-hp Honda C-T-R has a whopping 31 hp more than Hyundai Veloster N, but the Veloster is actually 69-lbs heavier than the Type-R’s 3117-lbs, at 3186-lbs! Also, the Honda’s iconic street racer’s sticker price of $37,000 is $4,750 more than the Hyundai’s $32,250. The magazine also says that the Veloster N is the lowest priced car among cars that can do 0-60 in under 5.0 seconds.
"Were we to find a nice battery, a bigger motor, and inverter, we could make an IONIQ EV N with a nice chassis and more power. Something like that is not fully crazy." - Albert Biermann
So, what’s to become of this new champion of the street once the ban on ICE cars kicks in and automakers have no choice but to resort to electric power? It appears that Veloster and the N brand will live long and prosperous from what Hyundai is cooking up under its sleeve.
IONIQ 5 N EV Can Achieve the Kind of Performance That Was Only Possible in Supercars
Hyundai N performance is currently preparing to enter an electric-powered Veloster N into a new racing series called the Pure E-TCR, an electric car offshoot of the tremendously popular TCR series. TCR has become the most important and popular racing series for compact sports cars because the racing cars are based largely on production cars and that a lot of the technology that is developed for racing, does see the light of day in production cars.
So, how is the E-TCR version of the Veloster N different from your ordinary street car? First off, it becomes a rear-wheel-drive car instead of the street version’s front-wheel-drive. Also, it becomes a better-balanced car due to the lower weight of the motor, which is placed midship, and the flat placement of the 800V 65 kWh battery pack. And most importantly, it’s much more powerful at an astonishing maximum power of 500 kW or 670 hp! This is more than double the street Veloster N and 320 hp more than the internal combustion Veloster N TCR’s horsepower of 350! All this power translates into 0-100 km/h or 0-62 mph of about 3.0-seconds!
If you are a regular viewer of the AutoVision you will have noticed that all the specifications of the Veloster N E-TCR, like 800V architecture, 65kWh battery pack, and 0-60 time of 3 seconds sounds very similar to the proposed specifications for the upcoming E-GMP based high-performance electric vehicles such as Kia CV and Genesis GV60! So, it seems pretty apparent that Hyundai is actually testing for the street versions of their future high-performance EV right on the race track while preparing for the E-TCR series
This assertion is strengthened by what Albert Bierman has mentioned when asked about the future of the N performance division. The current vice-president of the Hyundai motor group and the former head of the BMW M-division stated that the eventual introduction of electric N models is an inevitability and that the company is currently in the process of defining the future direction of its vehicle lineup beyond 2021.
One model, in particular, that was mentioned during the discussion was pertaining to the IONIQ, the newest electric car for Hyundai that opens the new era of the electric age of the company. "Were we to find a nice battery, a bigger motor, and inverter, we could make an IONIQ EV N with a nice chassis and more power. Something like that is not fully crazy." Said Albert Biermann
And this is exactly what’s happening. Just like the proposed high-performance versions of the E-GMP sharing corporate siblings Kia CV or EV5 and Genesis GV60, IONIQ 5 is also expected to receive the high-performance treatment under the guise of N-subbrand. The performance aspect for the new E-GMP-based dedicated electric vehicles will be 0-60 times of around 3.0-seconds. The dual motored all-wheel-drive car’s combined horsepower could be high as 500 kW or 670-hp, and this power may be utilized using different power maps, meaning the driver can select the maximum power of the vehicle depending on the need. For example, you can set it in the lowly 100 kW or 134hp setting as an eco-mode, 200 kW or 268 hp as a comfort mode, 300 kW or 402 hp as a sport mode, and the all-out 500 kW or 670-hp for the race-mode! Sports Mode in a car will have a new meaning in the age of electric automobiles, it seems. Also, the all-wheel-drive capabilities can be selectively controlled by the driver from its default rear-wheel drive, to front-wheel drive, and the full all-wheel-drive mode.
All in all, the electric age offers even better performance-enhancing opportunities as the motors can be increased in power much easily compared to the internal combustion engines. In fact, there is a possibility of seeing a vehicle exceeding 800 or even 1000 hp in the near future as Hyundai has already demonstrated in its RM20-e electric supercar that can launch from 0-60 MPH in under three seconds, and will hit 124 mph in just 9.88 seconds, which is destined to be a party crasher for the likes of Tesla Model S Plaid and Porsche Taycan Turbo S.
Also, the simpler mechanism for better maintenance and reliability improved handling from better weight balance and center of gravity, better response and higher torque of the motor, and even better collision safety measures, all add to the reasons why electric vehicles make better performance and race cars.
So, the future looks very bright for Hyundai’s burgeoning N brand. It is certain that the N models will live on into the next chapter of automotive history in the form of ultra-high-performance electric vehicles.
In addition to the Ioniq 5 N, the Veloster is due to receive a full-change in a few years and we can’t wait to try out what a 670-hp all-wheel-drive compact sports car would be like on the street!
TO WATCH THE FULL VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Z90bRK1Uz4o
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