The retro-styled Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV6 sit somewhere in the middle of the EV segment and the Genesis GV60 makes for their luxury sibling, but the South Korean company behind them is starting to up the ante on the performance level. As such, a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N has been spied, with this expected to at least match the 577 hp (585 PS) of the Kia EV6 GT-Line AWD. And while tuners will also want a slice of the growing EV pie, a digital artist had dreamt up a widebody Ioniq 5 of racing inspiration, with a similar digital work targeting the Kia model.
You don’t need a trained eye to notice that while the Ioniq 5 bets on the retro styling card, appearing a bit like a modern-day Lancia Delta Integrale, its brother bets it all on a futuristic design. And pixel master Vishnu Suresh (aka zephyr_designz) took these differences into account when pixel-painting the body kits for the battery-powered models.
Sure, you can expect the upcoming Ioniq 5, which has been recently spied doing its thing on the Nurburgring, to pack a few visual elements that will set it aside from the current members of the range, which top out at 320 hp (325 PS). However, this rendering takes the aero insanity to a level we have yet to see on a Hyundai N production car—only the mid-engined RM19 hot hatch that was the talk of the town last year displayed such visual aggression.
The angular approach of the DTM-inspired (Deutsche Tourenwagen-Meisterschaft or German Touring Car Championship) follows the factory lines of the car. And the way in which the gaping rear overfenders flank the side-to-side rear light bar is probably our favorite part of the digital job.
And a company called Platinum Auto Shop (PAW) built a Hyundai Ioniq 5 widebody kit based on this zephyr_designz rendering and it’s dubbed the Coga Body Kit. Unfortunately, as Vishu told me, the shop didn’t involve the 20YO artist in the process. And, after having published many of the self-taught rendering specialist’s designs over the past few years, I have no doubt that more of his work will turn into body kits people can install on their rides, hopefully with the artist receiving the place he deserves in such projects.
No stone left unturned
As for the Kia EV6, here in its said GT top dog trim, its factory styling, which is arguably more aggressive than that of the Ioniq 5, has dictated a similar direction for its virtual body kit, which seems to come in two color schemes.
Like many of the Internet’s top digital artists, Vishnu is self-taught. And to pack this sort of skill (would you look at the photorealism of his images!) at just 19 is quite something.
For one, the enthusiast’s EV6 displayed its intentions from the get-go: joined by a not-small splitter, the generously-sized double canards come to complement the mean-looking stock side intakes of the EV6 GT—and here’s the Kia drag racing a Ferrari of Fast and Furious fame.
And whilewe’re not sure of the material for the wing of the Kia, the Hyundai clearly gets a monstrous carbon fiber unit. The enthusiasts also introduces dedicated custom wheels for each battery-powered machine, with the rolling goodies contributing to the time attack look of the duo.
A widebody digital dream this may be, but you can also consider it a taste of things to come as far as the real world is concerned. Sure, we have yet to see a large-scale custom offering that plays with the electric firepower, but multiple EVs have already received their fair share of tuner aero.
