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Hyundai Might Add Hybrids to the N Division
Hyundai is looking beyond BEVs for its next batch of N models.
If you thought Hyundai was pivoting its N Division to only battery-electric power, you’d be wrong, according to what Hyundai’s N Boss Joon Park told the British publication Car.
The latest addition to the Hyundai N division is an N version of the battery-electric Ioniq 6.
Even though this battery-electric machine builds on the simulated engine noise and shifting from the Ioniq 5 N, it might not scratch the itch for someone who wants an i20 N replacement.
Park tells Car, “Hyundai N has to be reachable.” Obviously, that means that the high price tags of the battery-electric N offerings might not be attainable to the folks who were buying i20 N and i30 N models in the UK and European Union.
Affordable Performance
According to Car, Hyundai is working on hybrid powertrains to shove underneath the skin of the i20 N and i30 N successors.
Park told Car that the 2.0-liter turbocharged I4 that we find under the hood of the Elantra N in the United States can’t exist in the UK and European Union because of current and future regulations.
Now, this might not affect US shoppers, mostly considering that the closest machine to either of these models available stateside is the i30, which is similar to the Elantra in the US.
Will This Affect the US?
If Hyundai does start rolling out performance hybrid models under the N brand, there’s little doubt those would make their way to the United States.
It will be interesting to see how Hyundai evolves its N division as the company expands its battery-electric efforts—and if any of the lessons the company learns with its BEVs make its would-be performance hybrids even more potent.
Do you think Hyundai will roll out N hybrids in the United States, or hope they will? Tell us your thoughts below.