Hyundai has promised to roll out a veritable tsunami of battery-electric vehicles by mid-decade, the sleek Ioniq 6 being the latest to join the line-up. And if reports from South Korea prove accurate, the automaker is already working on what could be its next offering.
This one, however, will take a decidedly different tack from the Ioniq 6, which Hyundai has dubbed the “electric streamliner.” Based on the N Vision 74 concept unveiled last year, it’s a retro-futuristic coupe with ties to an early Hyundai concept vehicle — and a curious link to the movie “Back to the Future.”
According to South Korean publication Money Today, a production version of the N Vision 74 will be revealed May 27 — dubbed “Pony Day” — at the Hyundai design studio in Seoul. It could start rolling into global showrooms sometime in the coming year.
Back to the Future
The N Vision 74 concept has a history dating back nearly a half century, borrowing heavily from the 1974 Pony concept developed by legendary Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro — who also penned the far less radical Pony hatchback. It was meant to show what the then-fledgling automaker could do with its first series model, the Pony.
Hyundai never put the coupe prototype into production. And Giugiaro went on to use the show car as influence for other products, including the DeLorean DMC-12 made famous in the “Back to the Future” trilogy. Ironically, the stainless steel-bodied sports car borrowed some of the Pony Coupe Concept’s more recognizable features, including the wedge nose and sweeping roofline.
“Please don’t say there’s a resemblance to the DeLorean, because we did it first,” Hyundai styling chief SangYup Lee said at the debut of the N Vision 74 last year.
An important role
First revealed in July 2022, the N Vision 74 offset It’s classic, sharp lines with modern touches, including the pixelated headlights that are becoming a signature on electrified Hyundai models like the Ioniq 5. It added flared fenders, wide air intakes just behind the doors, a deep front splitter and a huge rear wing.
Along with the the RN22e, another radical show car revealed last summer, “N Vision 74 play(s) an important role in the strategic development of our entire product line-up, especially our electrified, high-performance vehicles,” Thomas Schemera, executive vice president and Hyundai’s Customer Experience Division chief, said at the time.
A personal wish
Where many automakers are trying to develop a common styling theme for their various all-electric models — as Mercedes-Benz has done with the “one-bow” design language of its EQE and EQS models — Hyundai has stressed it won’t be locked into a single approach as it expands its EV line-up.
So far, Hyundai officials aren’t commenting on Pony Day, but Till Wartenberg, the automaker’s vice president of motorsports and N brand management, told the Autopian earlier this year, “My personal wish is to produce this vehicle. It’s at first probably an investment, but if we could see this vehicle really out there and people buying it, I would be very happy.”
A “hydrogen hybrid”
In concept form, the N Vision 74 has been referred to by Hyundai executives as a “hydrogen hybrid,” the show car drawing power from a hydrogen fuel-cell system paired with a 72.4 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. It’s an extreme take on the fuel-cell technology found in the distinctly mild-mannered Hyundai Nexo SUV.
Twin electric motors are mounted on the rear axle and could punch out as much as 671 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. While the automaker curiously left out its 0-60 launch spec, it did note that the Vision concept tops out at 155 mph. It also teased that the drivetrain layout is perfect for torque vectoring, something that should make for some serious fun in tight corners, whether on the road or the track.
More to come
With a tank capable of storing up to 4.2 kilograms if hydrogen, meanwhile, the show car offers a maximum range of 600 kilometers, or 373 miles. Refilling the tank would take about 5 minutes, though topping off the battery would be a bit slower. But the 800-volt system is similar to what’s in the production Ioniq 5, which should mean reaching 80% of capacity in as little as 20 minutes or so with a quick charger.
Whether a production version of the N Vision 74 would retain that hybrid hydrogen-electric drivetrain or go all-electric is uncertain. Either way, speculation is that Hyundai would tone down some of the more radical design elements that would seem more fitting in a sci-fi adventure than a showroom.
We hope Hyundai will pony up some information before the reported event on May 27.