It’s a bit silly, but somehow, it’s a given that sporty cars have to have a bit of emotional appeal. Almost anyone can make a 500-horsepower-plus car these days, but it takes the right x-factor to dial in everything else to make sure it tugs on you in the right way. Down one sensory experience—EVs don’t have the mechanical rawness of internal combustion engines—it takes even more effort to transform an EV into something enthusiasts would salivate over. It’s one challenge Hyundai and its crack team of “N-gineers” have successfully accomplished with the Ioniq 5 N.
