In the past, if an automaker was really serious about a performance car, it would immediately take that car racing and fill its print ads with tales of victory. While “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” might not be the phenomenon it once was, that’s not stopping Hyundai from forging the Ioniq 5 N in the crucible of motorsports. Yep, everyone’s favorite ludicrously powerful retro electric performance crossover is getting its own one-make race series, with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N eN1 Cup Car taking the most potent production Hyundai ever into wheel-to-wheel competition.
At first glance, no half-measures have been made here. Hyundai’s gone to town on the exterior with massive fender flares, flics, splitters, and a wing big enough to seat The View. With its fiberglass hood and polycarbonate windows stickered up in full Hyundai N livery, the electric Cup Car looks the business, like a mad 7/5ths scale ’80s racing hatchback. Flares are so in, baby.
In a spec series that uses a field of identical cars, teams will do anything to find a competitive edge. Unsurprisingly, Hyundai has set the Ioniq 5 N eN1 Cup Car up with two-way adjustable dampers, along with adjustable camber and spring perches so teams can optimize setups and find the right balance between handling characteristics, grip, and tire wear. Speaking of go-fast hardware, this thing also sports forged calipers with six pistons up front and four in the rear, which should offer the clamping force necessary to haul this thing down from straightaway speeds.
When it comes to racing any car, safety is paramount, so the interior of the Ioniq 5 N eN1 Cup Car is gutted to accommodate an FIA Appendix J roll cage, a bucket seat, and a six-point harness. Adding to the roster of safety equipment, Hyundai has relocated the car’s charging port, fitted a high-voltage shutoff device and a high-voltage warning indicator, and added an asphyxiation fire layer in case the worst possible scenario happens. Keep in mind, most tracks aren’t equipped with tankers large enough to extinguish a traditional EV fire, so the better prepared the car can be, the safer the racing is for everyone. It’s not just drivers who put their lives on the line every weekend, marshals, emergency services, and pit crews are right in the mix too.
What’s surprising is that the propulsion system is entirely stock, meaning the same 84 kWh battery pack, 282 kW rear motor, 166 kW front motor, and inverter as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N you can buy off the showroom floor. Thermal management has previously been a serious challenge for EVs on track, so maintaining production-spec propulsion and charging systems speaks volumes to Hyundai’s confidence. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if the racing is broken up into 20-minute heats, if the high-voltage electronics can stand up to full race pace, that would be mighty impressive.
Of course, the other potential limitation is tire wear. Although the Ioniq 5 N eN1 Cup Car will run slicks on 11-inch-wide wheels at all four corners, instant torque is torture on rubber, and weighing in at roughly 4,344 pounds, this isn’t a light racecar by any means. It’s possible that the rubber might be cooked before a charge is exhausted, which could make for some interesting race strategy.
Regardless, expect the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N eN1 Cup Car to make its first appearance on track later this year, at Hyundai’s N Festival in Korea. The future of electric motorsports is wide open, and we’re intrigued to see Hyundai step up to the plate. As more production cars electrify, this corner of the motorsports world will only get bigger, so it pays to get in on the ground floor.
(Photo credits: Hyundai)
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Ah, I was wondering how they could make the Ioniq 5 attractive to me eyes. Now I know.
I’d watch those races. I mean, the weight makes me shudder, but I’m an 80s kid at heart, so hatchbacks with flares get my attention every time.
If this race series makes it off the ground, then it will be very interesting to see how they deal with the inherent challenges with BEV cars. Tire wear means track surfaces will matter even more, body roll on cornering, no refueling etc.
Refuelling will be cool if they have swappable batteries. Tire wear is definitely the concern. Potentially just much higher end, more expensive tires that use more durable rubber compounds, but then you’re looking at higher levels of waste which is sort of counter to the idea of EVs being allegedly greener.