The sports subdivision of Hyundai is considering launching a line of high-performance hybrid sports cars in the regions where electrification has been struggling, like Australia. Hyundai N ex-President, current Tech Consultant Albert Biermann hinted as much in his interview with Drive.
Right now, the Korean automaker’s N lineup consists exclusively of non-electrified cars plus a single battery-EV, the Ioniq 5 N. In February, the company finished producing the gas-powered i20 N and i30 N for Europe, announcing that both models would go full-electric in their next generations.
Still, according to Biermann, the company realizes all too well that some markets will take longer to adopt EVs than others, which means there will be customers interested in driver-focused sports cars running on gas. Going part-electric is a viable solution.
To this end, Hyundai is currently developing a new hybrid powertrain based on a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. The idea is to implement it in Genesis vehicles first and foremost, now that the premium marque decided not to hurry its electric transition. The proposed hybrid Hyundai N car has yet to be approved by the board of directors, but Biermann says he will try to convince the board that it is the right car to make. For example, the next-gen i30 N (also known as the Elantra N and Avante N in some countries) makes a perfect target for electrification. In earlier news, we heard a Hyundai engineer say the next Elantra was envisioned with a traditional engine under the hood, so it checks out.