New features are understood to be coming to Hyundai's fastest electric car in Australia to date, but there is not slated to be a price cut – nor an increase.
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The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N appears unlikely to receive a price cut – nor rise – as part of a specification update advised to dealers that is due to enter production later this year, adding new features to the $110,383 plus on-road costs electric car.
It is despite dealers listing some demonstrator examples online for $20,000 off the list price – and lightly-used, privately-owned examples $30,000 off – amid modest sales of Hyundai's flagship N model.
Only 341 Ioniq 5 Ns have been reported as sold in Australia since its launch at the start of last year, fewer than the number of Ferraris sold over the same period.
Hyundai Australia has ruled out offering South Korea's new Ioniq 5 N Essential, which deletes a wireless phone charger, head-up display, and other items to lower the price.
It only reduces the RRP by about $AU2800 to drop it below 80 million Korean won ($AU87,000), above which company-owned vehicles need to wear garish lime green licence plates – a regulation intended to discourage private buyers registering luxury cars under their businesses to dodge taxes.
There is still no further word on a mooted rear-wheel-drive version of the Ioniq 5 N, which would bring less power than the current model's 478kW, but at a much lower price.
Dealers in Australia have been advised of a specification update to the Ioniq 5 N due to enter production before the end of this year, adding new features to mirror other Ioniq 5 model grades.
Hyundai Australia could not confirm plans for the update when contacted by Drive.
The model-year change is due to add adaptive functionality for the LED headlights, and auto up/down functionality for the rear windows (previously front only), dealers have been advised.
The steering wheel is poised to gain haptic touch sensors, allowing it to detect the driver's hands resting on the rim when lane-centring assist is active, without requiring them to tug on the wheel to remind the car that they are paying attention.
Also included – but expected to become available for existing owners through an over-the-air software update – is revised N Drift Optimiser Pro software, now with 10 levels of electronic assistance when drivers want to get the vehicle sideways.
The least restrictive mode – level 10 – limits intervention of the stability-control system to help drivers "drift more freely," according to information published when the update was rolled out in South Korea.
The N Active Sound+ synthetic driving noise system is also due for an over-the-air update, now understood to automatically turn on in its Ignion mode – intended to simulate an i30 N's 2.0-litre engine – when launch control is engaged.
Expected to continue unchanged is the RRP: $110,383 plus on-road costs, slightly cheaper than the $111,000 tag the Ioniq 5 N launched with last year, due to Luxury Car Tax changes.
It's despite one dealer currently listing a near-new demonstrator online for $91,300 before on-road costs, and other vehicles with low kilometres – between delivery mileage and about 3000km – shown at similar prices in recent months.
A one-year-old Ioniq 5 N has been listed by a private seller with 2500km on the clock for $84,000, before stamp duty and other mandatory charges.
Hyundai Australia has never set bold sales expectations for the Ioniq 5 N, but has expressed a desire to sell more than it is currently delivering.
"We're probably doing anywhere between 25 to 30 a month," then-chief operating officer of Hyundai Australia, John Kett, told Drive last year.
"I'd be hoping that could get to, maybe, 50 a month, as we progress our way through later or early next year."
Hyundai has sold an average of 13 Ioniq 5 Ns per month so far this year, down from 20 last year.
"It is a $100,000-plus vehicle, in the EV space, and that area has really flattened, in terms of year-on-year price bands. Everything's been done probably in the sub-$40,000 area, that's where the real volume is, and slightly above $50,000," Kett said mid-last year.
"I wouldn't say we're disappointed, I think we're probably getting our fair share of that price point in EVs over $110,000, but we're playing with some pretty premium brands there too."
2026 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N update for Australia – what's new
Source: Hyundai Australia dealers
2026 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Essential for South Korea – what it deletes vs regular model
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
