American man drives people in his Hyundai Ioniq 5 N with its fake engine on to see if they can tell it's an EV
Published on Oct 12, 2025 at 10:25 AM (UTC+4)
by Molly Davidson
Last updated on Oct 09, 2025 at 9:14 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Mason Jones
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N looks like an EV but doesn’t sound like one.
The electric car comes complete with fake engine noise and an eight-speed gearbox so realistic they can fool just about anyone.
One YouTuber decided to test it, taking passengers for a ride without revealing the trick.
Their reactions showed just how convincing Hyundai’s ruse really is.
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Hyundai Ioniq 5 N blurs the line between EV and gas
Hyundai gave its Ioniq 5 N a simulated engine and gearbox, complete with fake revs, fake shifts, even fake exhaust pops.
It’s all software designed to make an electric car feel like it still runs on fuel.
To see how convincing it really was, YouTuber ActuallyVen decided to stage a little test.
He picked up friends for a drive, told them it had a four-cylinder turbo, and said nothing about it being electric.
Then he switched the car’s fake engine sounds on full blast and set off.
They believed every bit of it with some guessing it was a hybrid.
Others compared it to a Subaru, rally car, or an Audi five-cylinder.
Nobody suspected the growl, the shifts, or the exhaust note were digital.
When he finally revealed the truth, disbelief hit hard.
“Wait, am I being punked?” one friend asked, “are you for real?”
And that’s the proof whatever Hyundai built here clearly works – the illusion doesn’t just sound real, it feels it.
The N e-Shift tech that makes fake feel real
The system behind the illusion is called N e-Shift.
It’s Hyundai’s way of giving electric cars the same rhythm and feedback you’d get from a gas engine.
Instead of quiet, constant power, it makes the Ioniq 5 N feel like it’s changing gears.
Complete with jolts, pauses, and the sound of revs climbing and falling.
It even ‘bogs’ if you shift at the wrong moment, and pretends to hit redline when you push too far.
It’s more than noise – it’s a kind of communication, helping the driver feel speed instead of watching it on a screen.
“E-Shift is not the way of the future, but the way of the past applied to the future,” wrote Mack Hogan, reviewer for Inside EVs.
Translation: N e-Shift isn’t the future, it’s the past repurposed for it – a reminder that driving can still be emotional, even when everything’s digital.
And judging by the reactions in ActuallyVen’s video, Hyundai might be onto something.
See for yourself below:
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Molly Davidson is a Junior Content Writer at Supercar Blondie. Based in Melbourne, she holds a double Bachelor’s degree in Arts/Law from Swinburne University and a Master’s of Writing and Publishing from RMIT. Molly has contributed to a range of magazines and journals, developing a strong interest in lifestyle and car news content. When she’s not writing, she’s spending quality time with her rescue English staffy, Boof.
