Review: 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N enthusiast EV shows it's worth the wait

The good folks at Hyundai have scrambled my brain with the 2025 Ioniq 5 N, a devilish little electric compact crossover that might just be a motorsports game-changer.

Most electric vehicles are a blast to drive in a straight line, with incredible acceleration and accessible power. But their weight becomes a liability on the race track, and battery cooling can put a damper on the fun well before running through a charge.

Like many “sporty” versions of best-selling cars—think the Toyota Corolla GR or the Acura Integra Type S—the Ioniq 5 N gets more power, a wider stance, and upgraded tires. The car still has all the tech features we’ve come to expect in a Hyundai like automatic emergency braking, a driver-assistance system that helps ease fatigue on the highway trips, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a large digital gauge cluster and infotainment screen.

However, the company wanted to build an EV that would entice ICE enthusiasts over to the electron world. By and large, enthusiasts don’t care about tech features. Instead, we want emotion. We want to feel connected to the car, like the vehicle is an extension of ourselves. We want to feel joy and excitement and yes, just a touch of fear.

Whoo boy does this thing rock.

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N — Emme Hall

Green Car Reports sent me out to Laguna Seca Raceway with five specific questions—in bold below—to answer. I spent the day amidst professional drivers and Hyundai engineers, dutifully fulfilling my assignment and wondering at the absurdity of hooning a ridiculously powerful car on a compelling track and getting paid for it. Y’all, it was a good day.

Does N Grin Boost put a grin on your face in the Ioniq 5 N? Did you use it on the track?

N Grin Boost is the equivalent to a go-fast gold coin in a video game. Press the red button labeled NGB on the steering wheel and the Ioniq 5 N gives you all 641 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque for 10 seconds. Drivers can do this as long as the battery is at a 30% or higher state of charge.

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N — Emme Hall

Laguna Seca Raceway is a complicated track with plenty of blind crests, tricky decreasing-radius turns and a 0.2-mile front straight.