The DeLorean Might Be Coming Back As an Electric Car (electrek.co) 103
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Electrek: The DMC DeLorean has been out of production for almost 40 years, but now we've learned that the iconic vehicle might be coming back as an electric car. In 1995, Stephen Wynne bought the company's old inventory and trademark to relaunch the brand based in Texas. At first, the plan was to bring back the same vehicle with more modern technology in low volume. For the past 5 years, the company pushed for the adoption of new rules for low volume vehicle production with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). These new rules were finally recently adopted, but the delay was so long that it complicated DeLorean's plans. The engine that they plan to use is not going to be compliant with emission standards starting in 2022 and the landscape has changed significantly.
In a new blog post, the company is now hinting that going electric with the DeLorean: "That said, with EV's becoming more mainstream, we've been considering switching to an all-electric as the future. It certainly makes for an easier path through emissions maze which still looms large over any internal combustion engine. While an electric Cobra or Morgan may be a little extreme for their potential market, we've already seen that an EV DeLorean -- as we displayed at the 2012 New York International Auto Show -- is not such an 'out there' idea." The company hints at being in the process of looking to secure financing to bring an electric DeLorean and says "stay tuned."
In a new blog post, the company is now hinting that going electric with the DeLorean: "That said, with EV's becoming more mainstream, we've been considering switching to an all-electric as the future. It certainly makes for an easier path through emissions maze which still looms large over any internal combustion engine. While an electric Cobra or Morgan may be a little extreme for their potential market, we've already seen that an EV DeLorean -- as we displayed at the 2012 New York International Auto Show -- is not such an 'out there' idea." The company hints at being in the process of looking to secure financing to bring an electric DeLorean and says "stay tuned."
ONly (Score:5, Funny)
Only if it has a flux capacitor.
Re:ONly (Score:4, Funny)
Only if it has a flux capacitor.
A 121 Gigawatts [oreillyauto.com], it would drain the battery too quickly.
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No problem, just buy more plutonium from the Libyans.
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All you had to do was snort start them and then they'd follow any white line down the road.
Re:ONly (Score:5, Funny)
At 121 Gigawatts [oreillyauto.com], it would drain the battery too quickly.
Unless, of course, you go for the plutonium-electric hybrid model.
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At 121 Gigawatts, it would drain the battery too quickly.
Unless, of course, you go for the plutonium-electric hybrid model.
The Mr. Fusion model runs on garbage. I'd go with that.
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I still cannot go down to my neighborhood pharmacy and buy plutonium...
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It will need 121 Gigawatts to carry all that weight around. They should reconsider the stainless body panels
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1.21 gigawatts. You need a better source of information. But a battery's capacity is measures in watt-hours, not watts. So how long does a Flux Capacitor need to draw 1.21 gigawatts? If it only needs 1.21 gigawatts for 1/4th of a second then the Tesla's 100 kWh battery could conceivably do it. 100kwh is 360 megawatt seconds.
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1.21 gigawatts.
That would be for a Yugo. A DeLorean weighs a bit more
Re: ONly (Score:2)
They definitely need to make a nod to that and go with a 121kWh battery pack :)
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Nah, everybody knows a flux capacitor is only active for a few picoseconds, a standard AA battery stores enough energy to power it, it just can't deliver sufficient amperage.
Re:ONly (Score:5, Informative)
I believe Doc said he needed 1.21 gigawatts -- but he didn't say *how long* he needed it for, so you can't know from that it would drain the battery.
In Back to the Future II, Doc realizes he can *power* the time machine with a lightning strike. Lightning strikes can have peak powers in the range of 10 gigawatts (so Doc was right that lightning could provide the *power* he needed), but according to Professor Google, the total energy dissipation of a lightning strike is in the range of 1 megajoule to 10 megajoules. Expressed in kw-hours that's only 0.3 to 3.
A modern high end electric car battery has around 80 kw-hours, so no, you're not going to run it down by powering the time circuits, although you may *melt* the battery down. That's probably why Doc needed some kind of capacitor to store the energy from his nuclear reactor, which couldn't possibly have provided anything like the gigawatt range powers he needed. A reactor that size would generate power in the tens of kilowatt ranges -- assuming his design didn't waste any space or weight on frills like safety.
By 2015 there were electric car batteries that could supply the energy he needed (if not the power); but he'd have had to re-engineer the entire vehicle; bolting on a Mr. Fusion was simpler. A modern electric DeLorean wouldn't need a nuclear reactor, it would have plenty of electricity available to charge up a supercapacitor of some kind with a few megajoules of energy.
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If the DeLorean was electric, Doc wouldn't have that many issues getting back from 1885 as well. Gasoline was available in tiny quantities f
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Only if it has a flux capacitor.
Don't all charged capacitors have flux?
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https://www.oreillyauto.com/fl... [oreillyauto.com]
Sales strategy (Score:3, Funny)
They should engrave a hidden message in the chassis of the DeLorean that says that the car's time travel capabilities were tested during the US election of 2020, and then leak the info to QAnon. The car will sell itself.
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Well ... (Score:2, Funny)
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I'm going to wait for Mr. Fusion, myself. I'm already saving the banana peels and Pepsi.
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That would be handy for me, I could then migrate away from my banana peel biomass energy production which is annoying my neighbors.
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I'm going to wait for Mr. Fusion, myself. I'm already saving the banana peels and Pepsi.
I heard if you do the right mods to mr. Fusion you get an extra few gigaWatts with Coke; casue things go better with Coca Cola.
Will it hit top speed? (Score:2)
Inquiring minds want to know. Will it be able to reach 88 mph?
and mine will have hookers and blackjack (Score:4, Funny)
Re: and mine will have hookers and blackjack (Score:4, Informative)
Re: and mine will have hookers and blackjack (Score:4, Funny)
There's an idea, someone should use the Lotus Esprit body shell and make an electric car out of that.
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Shaken, not stirred (Score:2)
"There's an idea, someone should use the Lotus Esprit body shell and make an electric car out of that."
That converts to a submarine...
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Years ago I remember the SlashDot discussion about the FBI's clone of Back Orifice and how some judge (later reversed) had said that it was a perfectly legit tool and didn't need a search warrant to use. A commenter said, "All they need to do is drop a folder of kiddie porn on your hard drive and kick in the door."
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zero to 88 time? (Score:2)
zero to 88 time?
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Just a guess, but they're probably already OUTATIME!
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zero to 88 time?
Assuming a 1.5 ton car, rerouting the 1.21 Gigawatt Mr. Fusion upgrade to the power train, and 50% efficiency, my math says 2 milliseconds.
Guess the ICE ran outatime (Score:4)
I think buyers would expect electric (Score:2)
An electric DeLorean would be pretty awesome; and since the target market is for people who want a car that stands out it could be very appealing.
I would even go so far as to say, I don't think they would find many buyers if it wasn't electric!
As you say potential buyers would want the car to stand out, and with the unbreakable link to Back To The Future where the final car ran on a fusion reactors, buyers would be disappointed to find the real thing was not at least electric also...
It would make it way mor
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You haven't seen the movies, specifically #3.
I have seen the movies as much as most people - I admit I didn't remember that detail as it was a long time ago I watched them.
But the point remains that I think a lot of people would have as fuzzy a memory around this as I do, and expect it to be electric (as I did).
You are for sure right it's more true to the movie to have an ICE engine, but still cooler if it's actually electric.
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Sure, when it lifts off and flies, that's totally the ICE.
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As for an eCobra or eMorgan
Actually, Morgan was going to do an electric version of their three-wheeler. But they changed their mind early last year.
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As for an eCobra or eMorgan
Actually, Morgan was going to do an electric version of their three-wheeler. But they changed their mind early last year.
Yea, Morgans are just quirky enough that an electric version would be right up their alley.
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In some ways it's an ideal shape for an EV, low and sedan style. Awkward to get in and out of but good for efficiency, much like the most efficient cars on the market: The Hyundai Ioniq and Tesla Model 3.
With modern materials to get the weight down and removal of the engine freeing up cargo space it could be quite an interesting vehicle.
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In some ways it's an ideal shape for an EV
That's why the eTruck looks like a marriage between an F150 and a DeLorean.
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And before anyone asks, it's all true, the ICE uses time travel to control not only the national borders, but also to prevent Terminators from the future to enter illegally into the US.
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And before anyone asks, it's all true, the ICE uses time travel to control not only the national borders, but also to prevent Terminators from the future to enter illegally into the US.
Yah, but the couldn't stop those aliens living with American and Russian astronauts on that secret undergfround base on Mars from voting...
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As long as Lucas doesn't make the electrical components
No, he just makes crappy sequels.
The DeLorean was a terrible car, made for posers. (Score:5, Informative)
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To answer all the cornball jokes here about hitting 88mph, the speedometer stopped at 85, as required by law in the US at that time. The speedometer face in BTTF went to 95, but it was made specifically for the movie. Feel the fury of the 130 HP 6-cylinder Volvo engine coupled to the smooth reliability of the 3-speed automatic Renault transmission! They were extremely overweight, under powered, unreliable cars. But you did look good, sitting in one with a mirror full of blow.
The real joke is that the car couldn't actually go 88mph.
Re:The DeLorean was a terrible car, made for poser (Score:4, Interesting)
Regular Car Reviews on YouTube drove one with an LS swap. He said it was everything the car should have been. Pretty slick build too. The owner used cad files for the car and engine to build his own mounts.
Re:The DeLorean was a terrible car, made for poser (Score:5, Informative)
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''130 HP 6-cylinder Volvo engine ''
It was actually more Peugeot and Renault than Volvo. Volvo joined a few years later, for some unknown reason [may their currently power trains were too reliable].
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Feel the fury of the 130 HP 6-cylinder Volvo engine
It was originally supposed to have a rotary engine, and then a ford v6 which would have sucked slightly less than the volvo motor, but fail, and fail again.
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Hmmm (Score:1)
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The capacity is in flux...
It's such an iconic car, (Score:3)
that I can see Elon Musk stepping in to provide batteries and a drive train. Or possibly even buying the company or the rights - there may not be much difference at this point anyway - and launching a Tesla DeLorean. That would be kind of a shame, but it may be the only way forward - and I'd love to see that design on the road again.
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It certainly looks along similar lines to the Cybertruck.
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Why Tesla? GE has a new EV platform and isn't already struggling to produce enough cars. As one example.
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GM (which is who I assume you actually meant) also has about as much imagination as a garden slug.
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Yes, meant GM. They have no imagination, but they do have engineers. Buying an iconic car design and throwing electric motors in it and producing at scale falls well in their wheelhouse.
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"there may not be much difference at this point anyway - and launching a Tesla DeLorean."
The Cybertruck is Tesla's DeLorean.
CyberCar, Delorian Edition (Score:2)
Reduce the cybertruck to sedan size, put gull wing doors, on it, and - good enough - 2023 Delorean achieved.
Does the current company have rain-resistant door seals? Model X never got them right.
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1. The DeLorean has a stainless steel sheets body.
2. The Tesla Cybertruck is basically based of the DeLorean, down to the folded stainless steel sheet panels.
3. Using folded stainless steel sheets lowers the manufacturing cost.
4. Elon announced a cheaper car "coming soon"
5. The Tesla Model X has falcon wing doors like a DeLorean
I mean, at this point it's almost a given that the announced-but-not-disclosed low-cost Tesla is going to be a Tesla DeLorean. Tesla + 1980's movies nostalgia + low-cost EV = epic wi
No no no... (Score:3)
Put a 120 volt plug in it. (Score:4, Funny)
After all, I want to be able to install a Food processor. I can print the words "Mr. Fusion" on it myself.
BTTF 3 predicted it. (Score:2)
The great gasoline shortage of 1885 was a wake up call that future vehicles couldn't rely on fossil fuels.
Biofuel (aka moonshine) wasn't great for the car's internal combustion engine either.
Why? (Score:4, Interesting)
I know there's a small cult following for this car, but are there really that many people looking for one? I know that a few years ago the original model was selling on the used market pretty cheap. I remember seeing several in the $10K to $15K range.
Besides, it wasn't a well built or even a very well performing car even when new. While it was kinda cool looking 35 years ago, several manufacturers had better looking and performing wedge shaped cars a decade prior to DMC. The stainless steal body was kind of novel, but I never saw the point, other than for time travel in Back to the Future. If you dinged, or scratched it, you got to live with it, or replace the panel.
The pinnacle of the wedge shaped cars as far as styling goes was the Bertone Lancia Stratos Zero [carstyling.ru], which was a concept from 1970. But would have been very impractical if it would have been a production car.
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My friend, I don't know how much a DeLorean is worth nowadays, but I will only sell mine if I run out of money to put food on the table for my children :)
I'm by no means trying to insult your car. I thought about getting one because they were cheap and for the nostalgia factor. However, how likely are you go purchase a new one? That' why I question whey they would do this. How many people are there out there that are looking to purchase an electric version of a 80's styled car?
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Plays well to an EV (Score:2)
It's overweight, which made it a bad car. However, similar construction is used for the cybertruck, because EVs can handle heavier weight.
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It's overweight
Its stainless steel, which weighs exactly as much as its supposed to.
There would be no discussion of DeLorean's if they were not stainless steel, so the car itself weighs exactly as much as its supposed to.
There is no way an electric version would be stainless steel, making it strictly a DeLorean in name only, a piece of shit that wont work 20 years later.
That's what I thought until (Score:3)
> There is no way an electric version would be stainless steel
That's what I was thinking. Until someone pointed out:
https://www.tesla.com/cybertru... [tesla.com]
Re: Why? (Score:2)
Why go so exotic, a TR7 was pretty wedge shaped and actually handled well, I mean like go cart well, it was let down by itâ(TM)s Lucas electrics and body Roy common for the day
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The DeLorean isn't even wedge shaped! It's a truncated brick! The front end LOOKS like a wedge at first glance because of the lines of the screwed-on stainless body panels, but take a look at the car from down low and you'll see that the front end is dominated by plastic and is actually quite high... and flat. The car also has less interior room than much smaller vehicles. It's a bit of a dog's breakfast, frankly.
OMG for real? (Score:2)
Body material? (Score:3)
The beauty of the DeLorean was the stainless steel body. Given the longevity we want from avoiding all the wear in an ICE, the question becomes, what affordable body can you give it which won't rust and have such weight for decent range? Carbon fiber isn't affordable. Aluminum has repair issues (and potentially cost nowadays). Fiberglass and plastics have reinforcement and tear issues.
Given the limited platform size, weight will be a massive issue to begin with.
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I've owned two Saturns in the past, and IMO the plastic body panels were absolutely awesome. The paint almost never chipped. If you strike a plastic panel so hard that it cracks, it's guaranteed that same impact would wrinkle a metal panel beyond repair and it would have to be replaced, too.
It's worth nothing that the hoods, roofs, and trunks of Saturns were metal.
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How about making a car out of spring steel? In case of a collision the car would just bounce back!
I'll show myself out now.
Morning Commute (Score:2)
The people on my morning commute drive like we are all in bumper cars at an amusement park.
Its 1.21 Jiggawatts. (Score:1)
If I recall its, 1.21 gigawatts.
Even so, 0-88 MPH speed is irrelevant. Once you hit 88, it can be 6 hours, 6 days, 35 years, -35 years, all depends on what the time circuit is set for.
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I never saw this in a funny video:
People lining up to have a car race. Doc Brown arrives and lines up at the starting line in his DeLorean.
The race starts! Everybody leaves Doc Brown in the dust at the starting line, but eventually he reaches 88mph, vanishes in a flash and re-appears right before the finish line a few seconds ahead of the leading car, and wins the race.
Just for looks (Score:2)
DeLorean+Musk's SUV=Future Garage (Score:2)
Take that, OPEC!
It's Not A Real DeLorean unless cocaine finances,, (Score:1)
Cue the Mr. Fusion jokes (Score:2)
Of course, the internal combustion engine of the car always ran on ordinary gasoline.
The zero creativity generation. (Score:2)
It's like all they can do, is glue together things that already exist, in new, pointless ways.
I'm just surprised that it doesn't also play the Mario or Star Wars theme, in its bazillionth "on another instrument" rehash.
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That explains all the freakin' code libraries, frameworks, etc and the resulting mess.
regulation works (Score:2)
To those who say that regulation doesn't work, this would be an excellent real life example of it working exactly as intended.
flash recharge (Score:2)
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DeLorean for sale (Score:3)
They're going to remake back to the future (Score:2)
and ruin it, guaranteed.
Sorry, Doc Brown... (Score:1)