A Surprising EV Is Challenging The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N’s Fake Shifter Appeal
For two years, one electric car has had a very specific bragging right. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N convinced enthusiasts that an EV could fake a gearbox, fake a redline, and still be loved for the effort. It shifts gears that do not exist. It revs to a limit that means nothing. And it works. Porsche noticed, and the latest Taycan now runs a version of the same trick. The idea has gone from novelty to a genuine talking point, and until recently, the Hyundai wore the crown alone. Then a name showed up that nobody expected in this fight.
Hyundai Tried To Make The Ioniq 5 N As ICE As Possible
Give Hyundai its due. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N got here first, and its N e-Shift and N Active Sound made the case that simulated shifting could feel like a feature instead of a gimmick. It did it at a price real people can reach, and that matters. What the Mercedes brings is a different kind of credibility. The soundtrack comes from a real AMG engine, not a computer’s best guess, and the badge on the nose carries decades of noise behind it. One car made the trick accessible. The other is trying to make it feel earned. That split is the reason this match-up exists at all.
Meet The Challenger – The 671-HP Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 EV
Mercedes-AMG pulled the covers off the new CLA 45 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and it is fully electric. That alone would be news. The number attached to it is what makes people sit up. This is AMG’s smallest car, and it makes 671 horsepower. The old four-cylinder version made 416 horsepower and already felt slightly unhinged for a compact sedan. The electric one nearly doubles it.
Three Motors, One Clever Party Piece
Under the skin sit three axial-flux motors, the same slim, compact design AMG uses in its 1,153-horsepower GT four-Door. Two of them drive the rear axle, and one handles the front, which is where things get interesting. In normal driving, the CLA 45 runs as a rear-biased all-wheel-drive car, shuffling torque between the two rear motors for precise, instant vectoring. The front motor peaks at 360 horsepower but disconnects entirely when you do not need it, which keeps efficiency respectable. It is a lot of hardware working quietly to feel simple.
The Numbers That Matter
The headline figure is zero to 62 mph in 2.7 seconds. For context, a Tesla Model 3 Performance does thesame run in 3.1. Top speed lands at 168 mph with the AMG Dynamic Plus package, or 155 without it. These are not compact-sedan numbers. These used to belong to cars with six figures on the window sticker and a lot more badges on the trunk.
The Fake-Shifter Fight
Here is the part that the Ioniq 5 N should be worried about. The CLA 45 does not just go fast in silence. Engage a drive mode called AMGFORCE S+, and the car starts pretending to be a gas AMG. It fires off simulated gearshifts. It barks out the sound of a four-cylinder, complete with pops and bangs, and it plays that soundtrack for both the people inside and anyone standing on the sidewalk.
How AMG Faked It
This is where the effort shows. AMG did not synthesize a generic engine note. It recorded a real one. Engineers captured 1,600 audio files from an actual AMG four-cylinder, the one from the old A 45 S, using 13 microphones to catch it from every angle. That soundtrack plays alongside active seat shakers that buzz the front buckets, and traction shift interruptions that mimic the small jolt of a real upshift. A custom driver display finishes the act. Turn the mode off, including in Race, and the whole performance goes quiet.
Backed By Real Hardware
None of the theater would matter if the CLA 45 fell apart when the road got serious. It does not. Underneath the sound and the shift jolts is a chassis built to take the punishment.
Stopping And Staying Consistent
Like most EVs, the CLA 45 does most of its braking through regeneration, and it keeps doing so even when the ABS intervenes. When that is not enough, there are 15.4-inch ventilated discs with six-piston calipers up front and 13.7-inch discs at the rear for track days and emergencies. The clever bit is a system AMG calls the Predictive Performance Manager, which reads your drive mode and your position on a circuit to manage power and energy flow. The goal is simple. Lap after lap, the car should not fade or lose its edge.
Aero You Usually Pay Supercar Money For
The styling makes the intent obvious. There is an illuminated Panamericana grille, a more aggressive bumper, power domes on the hood, and wider front fenders, all riding on 19-inch wheels with forged 20s on the options list. The genuinely surprising part is the active rear spoiler that adjusts with speed and drive mode, the sort of thing you normally find on cars costing far more. Mercedes even fits it to the Shooting Brake wagon sold in other markets. Active grille shutters manage cooling and airflow, and adaptive dampers let the car swing between comfortable and sharp. On paper, it reads like a lot. On the move, it adds up to a small car that behaves like a serious one.
Range And The Catch
For all the noise, the CLA 45 still has to work as an EV. Happily, it does that too. The sedan claims up to 416 miles of range on the WLTP cycle from its 94-kWh battery, while the Shooting Brake manages 398. That is not a huge drop from the non-AMG CLA 350’s 479 miles, which is impressive given the power gap. The 800-volt architecture accepts up to 330 kW of fast charging, sufficient for a 10 to 80 percent charge in 22 minutes. Ten minutes on a fast charger adds around 170 miles. You can drive this thing hard and still get home.
The Part That Stings
And now the bad news. Mercedes has confirmed the CLA 45 is not coming to the United States. All that power, all that clever fakery, and American buyers do not get to touch it. The one flicker of hope is the upcoming third-generation GLA, which could inherit this powertrain and finally bring the act stateside. For now, it is a party happening on the other side of the ocean.
TopSpeed’s Take
So here is where it lands. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N started this whole conversation and still owns the thing that matters most, which is that people can actually buy one. The Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 answers with more power, a real engine’s voice, and a commitment to the illusion that is hard not to admire. It proves the fake-shift idea was never a fluke. It has staying power, and it can wear a premium badge without embarrassment. The catch is the one that always seems to find the good stuff. You probably cannot buy this car, at least not yet, and not here. But if the GLA picks up where the CLA 45 leaves off, this strange, loud, brilliant idea might finally reach the people who have been asking for it. That would be worth the wait.
Sources: Mercedes-Benz
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