The sporty Hyundai i30 N sedan will manage well in its next generation as an ICE car, but the i30 N will most likely have to make way for an all-electric successor, said Albert Biermann, Technical Consultant and ex-CEO of Hyundai N in his interview with CarExpert.
Speaking at a recent Hyundai performance car festival in Australia, he emphasized that the changes in the lineup were dictated both by the environment standards and marketing strategies. The Hyundai i30 N in particular was designed specifically for Western Europe, where it will no longer comply with the legislation when Euro-7 kicks in. The latest-generation i30 N, which came out in 2017 and received a facelift in 2020, will continue to be produced for a while longer, but will eventually be discontinued in favor of a battery car.
Biermann believes that the i30 N looks very promising as an EV, but conceptualizing such a car will likely take a lot of time, because the company is determined to do everything properly. As such, there is still no clear concept of the electric hatchback.
As for the second generation of the gas-powered Elantra N – also known as Avante N and i30 N Sedan on some markets – it is already included in the company’s long-term plans. The latest version only debuted last summer with a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-pot under the hood rated at 290 PS (286 hp / 213 kW), though, so there is no hurry.
According to Australian website CarSales quoting Biermann, Hyundai was also getting ready to phase out the dated 2.0T engine in favor of the 2.5-liter engine of the Sonata N Line. The 1.6T mill powering the i20 N is going to stay in production for a while longer.