Biermann is now retired from being President of Hyundai Motor Group, but still acts as a technical advisor (including to Genesis and Kia, and we wouldn't be surprised if the man was involved in innovative Hyundai Mobis discussions as well). In a recent interview withAutoExpress, Albert Biermann claims Hyundai could be rapidly developing a more affordable follow-up to the incredible Ioniq 5 N all-electric performance SUV (photo below) which boasts 641 horsepower, and upcoming Ioniq 6 N performance EV sedan.

Biermann toAutoExpress: "That small N-car EV ... is something we have to do. Otherwise, we leave our customers in the dark. We have to come down with something smaller and more affordable ... It is not an easy game, we put the reference point really high."

The compact Hyundai Kona SUV currently on sale, which is available as gas or full EV, immediately comes to mind. It is not currently sold with a full-N performance trim, only the lighter N-Line tweak and appearance package, though the first-generation model was sold with a gas-powered N trim making 276 hp and 289 lb-ft of torque. It was treated to bigger wheels, upgraded brakes, a tuned suspension, and packaged at a near-$35,000 starting price, which is significantly more affordable than the expected near-$70,000 asking price of the new, bigger Ioniq 5 N electric SUV. The current, second-gen Kona EV is available in SE, SEL, and Limited trims for now, good for between 133 and 201 hp for a near-$33,000 starting price.

There's a catch, though, that likely means Biermann isn't talking about a hotter all-electric Kona N. He goes on to claim toAutoExpressthat any high-performance Hyundai N products (that are all-electric) should get the company's 800-volt battery and chassis architecture found on the Ioniq models. The 2024 Kona EV utilizes a 400-volt system architecture that simply can't meet the desired efficiency and extended cooling performance requirements a true N model would ask for at even a short track day. Plus, the need for a bigger battery pack on a performance model would not likely be suitable for the current Kona's available pack size or chemistry on offer. "If you think of an i30-kind of car, 400-volt is not appropriate," he toldAutoExpress. "Maybe in the B-segment you cannot afford to switch only the N car to an 800-volt system."

That pretty much says right there we aren't getting an all-electric N version of the current second-generation Kona (pictured directly above), about as clear as you can get. So then, what will Hyundai do if it wants to deliver a B-segment EV performance car with 800-volt chassis technology? Well, considering the current Hyundai i20 and i30 hatchback models aren't sold in the U.S., our only hope would be a significantly overhauled third-gen Kona EV model on a new vehicle platform, which doesn't seem like it'd come anytime too soon considering the second-genjustlaunched as a 2024 model year. Then again, the second-gen Kona is more of a major facelift of the first-gen built on mostly the same bones, so maybe the replacement will come sooner than we think. Especially if it would afford Hyundai significant performance upgrades on a global best-seller.

In the same interview, Beirmann also reportedly confirmed that the Ioniq 5 and 6 cars are the smallest that will be assembled on the Hyundai Global Modular Platform (GMP) chassis, so don't expect that 800-volt system to spawn any future compact Hyundai hot hatch. The Korean automaker also has its upcoming new Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA) said to be suitable for 400- and 800-volt chassis applications of various vehicle size configurations, so that could be the ticket here.

Biermann finished theAutoExpressinterview hoping that the future would bring Hyundai closer to where it was before (seemingly in terms of offering fun, affordable, small cars), while admitting that nothing solid regarding any specific future hot hatchback model has been decided yet, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. We could be surprised in 2025 with the launch of the new IMA platform that could theoretically spawn a new 800-volt architecture N-branded compact EV, or we could end up waiting until closer to 2030 for whatever Beirmann is pitching to materialize. Here's hoping he's got at least one more car in him.