Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Named Car and Driver’s 2024 EV of the Year

Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ 5 N has been named Car and Driver’s 2024 Electric Vehicle of the Year.

With this win, Hyundai has earned Car and Driver’s Electric Vehicle of the Year award for the third consecutive year.

Previous winners include the Ford Mustang Mach-E in 2021, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 in 2022, the Hyundai IONIQ 6 in 2023 and the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N in 2024.

Car and Driver conducted a rigorous three-week evaluation of 18 electric vehicle models, including the IONIQ 5 N, Audi Q8 e-tron, BMW i5 eDrive40 and i5 M60, Chevrolet Blazer EV and Equinox EV AWD, Silverado EV, Fiat 500e, Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, Polestar 2, Tesla Cybertruck, Volkswagen ID.4, Hyundai Kona Electric and Kia EV9. The IONIQ 5 N beat 17 rivals to take the top spot.

“Hyundai has scored a three-peat as Electric Vehicle of the Year, welcoming IONIQ into the ranks of new dynasties,” said K.C. Colwell, Car and Driver’s editor-in-chief. “The IONIQ 5 N is an electric vehicle that delivers the kind of genuine enthusiast experience offered by an ’80s G-model Porsche 911 Club Sport.”

Hyundai said it was honored and deeply gratified that Car and Driver had recognized the IONIQ 5 N, which is redefining the joy of driving electric vehicles with performance-focused features such as N e-Shift and N Grin Boost.

The IONIQ 5 N is the first dedicated high-performance electric vehicle from Hyundai’s N brand. It brings together the company’s advanced electrification technologies to push driving performance and enjoyment to the limit, with N-specific features including an 84-kWh high-output battery, a high-performance all-wheel-drive system and a specialized thermal management system for high-performance EVs.

In Boost mode, it delivers a formidable 478 kW (650 PS) of maximum power and 770 Nm (78.5 kgf·m) of torque. It accelerates from a standstill to 100 km/h in just 3.4 seconds and has a top speed of 260 km/h.

The IONIQ 5 N has earned numerous awards, setting a new benchmark for high-performance EVs worldwide. It won World Performance Car at the 2024 World Car Awards, Car of the Year at the 2023 TopGear.com Awards and Best EV Hot Hatch at the 2024 TopGear.com Electric Awards. It also placed first in a high-performance EV comparison conducted jointly by Germany’s Auto Zeitung and the UK’s CAR Magazine, as well as in Auto Zeitung’s high-performance car comparison.

Founded in 1955, Car and Driver is an automotive magazine that influences consumers in the United States and around the world. Its editors conduct rigorous evaluations of driving performance and vehicle value, and the magazine publishes vehicle comparisons and selects the 10Best award winners and Electric Vehicle of the Year.