Usually when I’m driving a car for the first time, I take a few minutes and miles to get acquainted with it before I explore the effects of a fully depressed accelerator. Not with the Ioniq 5 N though. Going from starting the twin-motor performance crossover to being deploying full power on a circuit took me all of 80 yards. Talk about starting at the deep end.

Bedford Autodrome’s North Circuit played host to a fleet of 5 Ns, brought about by Hyundai’s partnership with MSV - the owner of Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, and Donnington Park to name just a few venues. A one-mile loop may not sound like much of a challenge, but a sharp Z-bend, a duet of tight hairpins and pair of double-apex left-handers allow me to get a concentrated dose of the car’s dynamic capabilities. Lap times are short - average speeds are high.

While often referred to as a hot hatch, the 5 N is closer to a mid-size crossover in its dimensions, but the resulting wide track and long wheelbase provides a stable platform for the four 275/35 21” Pirelli P Zero to deploy all 641bhp. On my warm-up lap, the car makes its vast grip reserves evident, and body roll is controlled diligently. The steering is slightly lighter than anticipated, but the nose follows my desired line to the letter, not requiring any correction.

Using a mixture of four-piston front brakes, single-piston rears, and recuperation from the electric motors, the stopping power is plentiful, disguising the 2.2-tonne mass quite well. There’s no dead zone on the brake pedal, and the mixture of friction and electric braking is blended very well. Noticeable but not overwhelming lift-off regen allows for the precise speed control just using the accelerator pedal that I’m used to from driving a variety of EVs.

Naturally, slowing down isn’t the point of a performance car like this. You’ll want to speed up, and the 5 N wastes no time in doing that. The response is instantaneous as one would expect in its N driving mode - with its steering, adaptive dampers, and motors turned up to the max. A strong initial thrust of forward motion never seems to end, and the car continues to advance relentlessly well above 100mph. 

Starting to lean on the car harder, I begin standing on the brakes rather than lifting and coasting before the corners, turning quicker, but using the 5 N’s weight to its advantage through the bends. Loading up one side, and letting it naturally drift out to the left or right allows the car to remain composed, and make good use of progressive throttle applications as the tarmac straightens.

The movement of mass is evident, but there’s no pendulum effect, and the car enjoys quick turns of the steering wheel, and relishes diving into the sequence of back-to-back hairpins. Getting ahead of myself and mashing the throttle to the carpet ahead of time, the back end abruptly came around which caught me off guard, but the stability control caught it with no fuss, clearly influenced by the programming for the multi-stage Drift Control system.

It all feels quite natural, even though there’s a lot of augmentation going into the driving experience. A car of this size and weight shouldn’t be able to move like this on the road - let alone a track where EVs are still a rare sight outside of Formula E. In this setting, the software allows the hardware to work hard, and unlocks a new method of interaction.

The biggest talking point about the Ioniq 5 N isn’t its 641bhp and 568lb-ft (770Nm) peak outputs - but rather the effort Hyundai has put into making the car behave and sound like something powered by fossil fuel. The headline party piece of course, is the e-Shift - also known as Virtual Gear Shift on the platform-sharing Kia EV6 GT.

Where pulling a paddle on most EVs adjusts the level of energy recovery, that action in the 5 N immediately switches on a simulated 8-speed transmission, and adds a rev counter to the 12.3” drivers display, and the coloured head-up display. It alters the power delivery to mimic a piston engine, will hit a “limiter” if the flashing shift lights are ignored, and will noticeably bump as one goes up or down through the ratios. This setting also amplifies the driving sound - a prominent burble i20 & i30 N owners will be familiar with - turning it from a useful audible reference point for speed, to a loud focal point.

The system is intuitive, and makes it easier for my instructor to give me speeds and ratios to aim for in corners. The chicane becomes a second gear corner, a long curve is one for third, and I shift up into fifth before exploiting the car’s immense stability to bear right at 108mph. Staying in a higher gear while cornering keeps the lively limited-slip differential-equipped rear motor in check, but if too much speed is scrubbed off, it won’t automatically downshift.

While the car can bend the laws of physics, it can’t quite break them. Several hot laps begin to have their effect on the P Zeros, but if anything the car becomes more adjustable using the throttle and mid-corner shifting to balance it through the bends, while still remaining predictable. In fact, the car feels like it’s coming even more alive as it presents me with the challenge of managing the weight, the movements, catching four-wheel drifts, but still egging me on to get back on the power as quickly as possible.

If I was new to EVs, I’d say it feels normal to use the e-Shift system, as it does a rather good job of mimicking a multi-speed transmission. While it alters the performance delivery from the pair of electric motors, it doesn’t change it completely, and it still feels unmistakably electric on its way to the red line. 

I suspect that my internal gyros are tuned into the torque-first outputs of drivetrains like this, and expect an endless single gear ratio to accompany them, forgetting about shifting, and focusing on balancing the car with regen, and minute adjustments to the throttle. I need a bit more time to recalibrate, and get to learn it better.

Whether switched on or off, it’s a good string to have in the Ioniq 5 N’s bow, as it offers an extra level of engagement and involvement on one hand, but immediately delivers a familiar feeling to those new to performance EVs. I’m glad it’s there, and it’s no surprise that Mercedes-AMG are working on a similar system for their future electric GT four-door.

It’s important to remember that there is more to the 5 N than e-Shift. There’s a stonking chassis, two punchy motors, fabulous high-speed stability, room for five people, heated rear seats, nice cabin materials, room for the proverbial dog that is a permanent fixture of the boot in fast family cars, an 84kWh battery offering 278 WLTP miles of range, and the promise of cheap charging if topped up at home.

While all of its quirks and capabilities will take time on public roads to uncover and get used to, it’s made quite the impression in the space of a few laps of Bedford Autodrome. All who emerge from the car do so wearing a smile, proving Hyundai’s and MSV’s gamble on an electric track experience car has paid off. With pro drivers at the wheel, we’re shown how well the car rides kerbs, and how trail braking sets the car up best in true EV fashion. From the second row, the way that the car moves seems even more extreme than it did from the driver’s seat.

It’s a good EV on paper, and a good performance EV on track. It just so happens to offer a choice of interaction levels for its driver: remastered classic rock, or future wave.