Is the 600bhp Hyundai Ioniq 5 N the future of the hot hatch?

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N isn’t finished. The noises it’ll pump into the cabin aren’t finalised yet. Its pumped-up bodywork is hidden under a garish shrink-wrapped disguise. Inside there’s a sporty new steering wheel and sporty bucket seats… which we can’t tell you about.

So, why are we in the Arctic Circle, invading Hyundai’s secret testing programme for its new 600bhp, £70,000 hot hatch? Well, this is a big one: the first all-electric N car, and an EV that promises more than just straight-line performance. Hyundai’s engineers insist the effort they’re making up here means this car will corner, steer and drift like a proper performance hero.

To find out how they’re getting on with that sizeable task, Top Gear magazine’s Ollie Kew has been to investigate, in his thermal underwear.