- RN24 retains the Ioniq 5 N’s 84-kWh battery but chops 340 mm from wheelbase
- The exposed roll cage is not unlike an exoskeleton—and gets weight down to 1,880 kg
- Hyundai is calling it a ‘Rolling Lab’, but to us it just looks like a tonne of fun
What happens when a car company gives its gearhead engineers permission to take the brand’s highest-performance EV and build an outrageous altar to speed? Well, they’ll probably end up with something like the RN24, a lightweight go-kart with an exoskeleton and the ability to hit 100 km/h from a dead stop in a hair over three seconds. Hyundai is calling it a “Rolling Lab.” We call it awesome.
Using the bones of an Ioniq 5 N and the PE system from its E-GMP platform, the team has built a machine with 641 horsepower and an 84-kWh battery whilst cutting total weight to 1,880 kilograms, some 345 kilos south of a road-going Ioniq 5 N.
Significant parts of that SlimFast diet include the obvious absence of bodywork, with origami scaffolding taking the place of formerly important parts like the roof, doors, and just about everything else. In addition to taking Sawzall blades to the body, engineers chopped 340 millimetres out of the wheelbase compared to an Ioniq 5 N, placing this Rolling Lab in the same league as Hyundai Motor’s i20 N Rally Hybrid WRC effort.
Speaking of World Rally Competition, RN24’s chassis system boasts a newly designed WRC-style suspension setup with rally-spec dampers and what’s being described as high-rigidity subframes.
The car also has a new ‘Rally Mode,’ described as a set-up to help optimize the distribution of torque to all four wheels. Hyundai says the performance of the racing-grade WRC mechanical technology is simulated by this mode. There’s also an e-handbrake inspired by Hyundai N’s 10-year history in the WRC.
To us, this all sounds like a great path to the creation of an Ioniq 5 XRT. Each of those technologies described above would work well in such a machine, allowing Hyundai to bring a legit competitor to cars like the Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally, or the forthcoming Rivian R3X. If lifted and roarty hatchback boxes are the future of electric speed, count us in.
“This Rolling Lab proves that there remains untapped potential for high-performance EVs and with new technologies ahead,” said Joon Park, Vice President of N Brand Management Group. It helps that Park is a huge gearhead in his own right, an exec who is often found regaling like-minded people with tales of speed and car-building. Cars like the RN24 are the tremendous result of having people like Park at the helm.
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