After driving the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, I finally get EV “engine” sounds

Enlarge / The regular Hyundai Ioniq 5 is one of our favorite EVs. Now there’s a hot hatch variant, and it’s great. (credit: Hyundai)

SEOUL, South Korea—EV drivers either seem to love or hate the fake powertrain sounds that accompany their cars. Some fully embrace the spaceship or video-game-like noises, while others can’t turn them off fast enough. I’m firmly in the latter group, long believing that the best thing about an EV is its dead-silent operation. Or, at least, I was until I drove the new Hyundai Ioniq 5 N earlier this month.

When you put the Ioniq 5 in N mode, it calls up a few different sound profiles—everything from your typical spaceship-y wooh-ahh tones to something attempting to re-create the aural quality of a turbocharged hot hatch. I say “attempting” because, well, none of the soundtracks are particularly good or high-quality. I’ve heard better stuff in Gran Turismo. Like, the first Gran Turismo.

In any case, when you activate N mode, the 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster also displays a tachometer in the middle, complete with a needle that rests at an imaginary idle. The regenerative braking paddles mounted to the steering wheel suddenly become gear shifters, and the sound of the “engine” rises and lowers as you move through each “gear.” (Read all these as air quotes—it helps.)