Hyundai has claimed one of the most prestigious prizes at the 2022 TopGear.com Awards, with its N Vision 74 ‘rolling lab’ project being crowned Instant Icon.
The N Vision 74 was revealed earlier this year as the Hyundai N division’s interpretation of the type of high-performance, sustainable driving excitement that is possible beyond fully electric cars. It is a unique vehicle full of experimental technology that combines Hyundai’s innovative fuel cell-hybrid architecture with a daring design, representing the company’s exciting vision of the future.
The TopGear.com judging panel said: “What the N Vision 74 does so cleverly is reference a what-might-have-been moment in Hyundai’s past in its looks, while espousing ideas for future high-performance propulsion. It’s what the engineers call a ‘rolling lab’. And it didn’t need an exhibition hall to shine. Its digital launch dropped jaws on to keyboards worldwide and demonstrates the endearingly humble confidence the Korean carmakers are rich in right now, as the insecure European old guard scramble to remain relevant. In more ways than one, it’s a showstopper.”
Hyundai’s N division uses its rolling labs to explore ways to develop latest technology for high performance applications, but what really makes the N Vision 74 distinctive is how it blends the company’s past and future. Design-wise it pays homage to the timeless Pony Coupe concept designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, and the early founders of Hyundai who attempted to bring it into production. Under its iconic lines it makes use of battery electric technology in combination with a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) system to bring to life the potential of hydrogen-based high performance first previewed by the N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo concept car of 2015, sustainable vision for high performance at the very beginning of N brand’s inception.
Unlike existing FCEVs that use integrated hydrogen fuel cell stacks that feed electricity directly to motors, the N Vision 74 introduces an added step with its high-capacity 62 kWh battery. This helps improve the peak load of the batteries, and along with three independent cooling channels, keeping them within the optimum temperature range for a consistent delivery of power even over longer stints on track. The powertrain is designed to provide high endurance and rapid charging during track conditions, and engineers developed a cooperative control system to allow the two different sources of power to work together in maximum synergy.
The result is a fully driveable vehicle that offers in excess of 500 kW of power, more than 900 Nm of torque, a top speed over 250 km/h, a driving range that exceeds 600 km and the ability to refuel to 80 per cent in five minutes. The dual charging capability allows flexibility for various operating conditions and availability of either electricity or hydrogen.
TopGear.com’s recognition of the N Vision’s engineering expertise and breath-taking design follows a string of high-profile awards for Hyundai’s current passenger car range, including World Car of the Year 2022, World Electric Vehicle of the Year 2022 and World Car Design of the Year 2022 for the electric IONIQ 5.
Till Wartenberg, Vice President, N Brand Management & Motorsport Sub-Division, said: “Creating the N Vision 74 represents a step into the unknown for us and to be recognised as “Instant Icon” by TopGear is a great honor for us. From design, technology and driving emotion, N brand and we really pushed the limits of what is possible. The unique hydrogen fuelcell hybrid system not only allows us to contemplate a future powered by hydrogen, but it also gave us an opportunity to dedicate our pioneering spirit to our founders in 1974. This pioneering spirit drives us to keep pushing and incubate innovation for the entire company.”
Ashley Andrew, Managing Director, Hyundai Motor UK, said: “The TopGear.com Awards are certainly not short of potential icons to choose from this year, so it’s a great honour for our N Vision 74 to win such an illustrious prize. What this car does very clearly is bring together the core tenets of Hyundai’s current and future vision, including design and innovation, as well as the performance intentions of our N division. These qualities are evident in the Hyundai vehicles on sale today but N Vision 74 reveals the future will be both pioneering and incredibly exciting, too.”
