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Transportation Power

The DeLorean Might Be Coming Back As an Electric Car (electrek.co) 103

Posted by BeauHD from the what-to-expect dept.
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."
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The DeLorean Might Be Coming Back As an Electric Car More

The DeLorean Might Be Coming Back As an Electric Car

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  • ONly (Score:5, Funny)

    by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @07:34PM (#60976036) Journal

    Only if it has a flux capacitor.

    • Re:ONly (Score:4, Funny)

      by Sebby ( 238625 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @07:36PM (#60976054)

      Only if it has a flux capacitor.

      A 121 Gigawatts [oreillyauto.com], it would drain the battery too quickly.

      • No problem, just buy more plutonium from the Libyans.

        • I like the old style Deloreans.

          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)

        by Sebby ( 238625 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @07:40PM (#60976068)

        At 121 Gigawatts [oreillyauto.com], it would drain the battery too quickly.

        Unless, of course, you go for the plutonium-electric hybrid model.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by The Grim Reefer ( 1162755 )

          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.

          • Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)

            by sentiblue ( 3535839 )
            Exactly! Doc said it runs on organic/disposable/bio-decayable things. Who cares how many Terawatts it needs. E = mc2 means a gram of banana peels runs a whole year.

        • I still cannot go down to my neighborhood pharmacy and buy plutonium...

      • It will need 121 Gigawatts to carry all that weight around. They should reconsider the stainless body panels

        • 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.

        • They definitely need to make a nod to that and go with a 121kWh battery pack :)

      • 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)

        by hey! ( 33014 ) on Friday January 22, 2021 @02:41AM (#60977044) Homepage Journal

        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.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          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.

          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

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Mr. Fusion only powers the time circuits. The conventional engine is needed to get the delorean up to the required 88 mph for the time vortex.

    • Only if it has a flux capacitor.

      Don't all charged capacitors have flux?

    • 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.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Well ... (Score:2, Funny)

    by thomst ( 1640045 )
    As long as it can hit 88 mph I think we'll be okay ...

    • I'm going to wait for Mr. Fusion, myself. I'm already saving the banana peels and Pepsi.

      • That would be handy for me, I could then migrate away from my banana peel biomass energy production which is annoying my neighbors.

      • 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.

  • Inquiring minds want to know. Will it be able to reach 88 mph?

  • and mine will have hookers and blackjack (Score:4, Funny)

    by algaeman ( 600564 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @07:47PM (#60976094)
    Electric seems like the way to go if they intend to really reproduce the whole thing and spend all the seed money on cocaine.

    • Re: and mine will have hookers and blackjack (Score:4, Informative)

      by boudie2 ( 1134233 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @08:37PM (#60976314)
      Actually the Lotus Esprit which Delorean was wanting to copy was a much better car. Colin Chapman of Lotus made millions on the design and made sure it was inferior.
    • There's a good liar city podcast on this. Essentially, the cocaine charge was manufactured by the feds. A federal agent posing as a drug dealer threatened to murder his daughter if he didn't purchase cocaine. If you found that interesting, there is also a book called "You Have the Right to Remain Innocent" by James Duane. The federal government has a lot of power to take down the innocent if you become a target for what ever reason. https://podbay.fm/p/liar-city/... [podbay.fm] https://legal.thomsonreuters.c... [thomsonreuters.com]

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cusco ( 717999 )

        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."

        • I remember that discussion! In the case of DeLorean, he was found not guilty and their was evidence of gross misconduct my federal misconduct. The federal investigators only received a slap on the wrist. I strongly feel that they should have gone to jail to set an example. The DeLorean cocaine myth ranks up there with "you only use 10% of your brain" as my least favorite common misconceptions

  • zero to 88 time?

    • Buddy that's gonna take a whole lot of time. If I recall correctly, Doc almost shit his pants thinking it wouldn't have made it to 88.

    • 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)

    by Registered Coward v2 ( 447531 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @07:48PM (#60976102)
    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. With the right powertrain it could be a real screamer; kind sucks it will be speed limited to 87 mph. As for an eCobra or eMorgan; why not, Granted the Cobra has been all about primal power and nose to go with performance, an EV would certainly give the ICE powered ones a run for the money. AC already plans to make one, the Series 1 Electric. [robbreport.com] As long as Lucas doesn't make the electrical components it should be interesting; although it would be more interesting and more of a British sports car experience if Lucas did.

    • 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

      • You haven't seen the movies, specifically #3.... "Mr. Fusion powers the time circuits and the Flux Capacitor, but the internal combustion engine runs on ordinary gasoline, and always has..." Anyone that has real interest in this car would expect it to be ICE powered, as that was how the original car always was.

        • 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.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          Sure, when it lifts off and flies, that's totally the ICE.

    • 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.

      • 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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      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.

    • 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.

      • 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...

    • 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)

    by slacktide ( 796664 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @07:52PM (#60976112)
    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.

    • 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)

      by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @08:02PM (#60976162)

      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)

        by slacktide ( 796664 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @08:27PM (#60976282)
        Yeah, I looked into buying one for an engine swap years ago, but decided I had enough projects going on. The 016/01E 6 speed transaxle from a Porsche 944 / 928 and some Audi models is a good fit and is more than capable of handling the power, and bellhousing adapters are readily available for popular modern engines. Engine mounts, custom axles, and a shift linkage are all reasonably easy to fabricate from scratch. A friend of mine has an LS swapped 944 racecar with an 01E, it's a beast. It's a popular combination for GT40 replicas as well.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fred911 ( 83970 )

      ''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].

    • 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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by k6mfw ( 1182893 )
      I've read sales were not that great at the, when the company went out of business Ireland got left with "holding the bag." Some of the country's leaders saw what they feared when the govt agreed with DeLorean setting up a plant (which was subsidized). When it was featured in the movie which there are so many memorable quotes, all of sudden the car became very popular. Some years ago someone acquired a lot of spare parts, body elements, etc. and his business was doing very well.
  • I wonder what the battery capacity will be in jigawatts,

  • It's such an iconic car, (Score:3)

    by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @07:53PM (#60976122)

    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.

    • I think that's closest to the mark - nobody really wants the Delorean car back, but the body style, maybe. That's not justification to design a whole new chassis, but rather to make a Delorean coach for some flexible skateboard-type EV platform.

      It certainly looks along similar lines to the Cybertruck.

    • You make an interesting point. In fact I do see the future of DeLorean being acquired by Tesla to make the sport version. And yes, Tesla DeLorean would be a very appealing model name.

    • Why Tesla? GE has a new EV platform and isn't already struggling to produce enough cars. As one example.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cusco ( 717999 )

        GM (which is who I assume you actually meant) also has about as much imagination as a garden slug.

        • 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.

    • "there may not be much difference at this point anyway - and launching a Tesla DeLorean."

      The Cybertruck is Tesla's DeLorean.

    • 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.

    • 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)

    by CaptainJeff ( 731782 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @07:53PM (#60976124)
    ...this sucker's electrical! https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

  • Put a 120 volt plug in it. (Score:4, Funny)

    by gurps_npc ( 621217 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @07:58PM (#60976142) Homepage

    After all, I want to be able to install a Food processor. I can print the words "Mr. Fusion" on it myself.

  • 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)

    by The Grim Reefer ( 1162755 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @08:05PM (#60976174)

    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.

    • 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 :)

      • 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?

        • Even today, compared to the new world's modern designs, I still see the DeLorean as an astonishing design. The "like" of something doesn't really have to have a standard. I like it because I simply do. There's not really any reason to explain. That said, I'm definitely interested in buying the new one, but unsure whether I'll be able to afford it. If I do buy the new one, it's likely I'd sell the old one to add extra cash to the purchase.

    • It's overweight, which made it a bad car. However, similar construction is used for the cybertruck, because EVs can handle heavier weight.

      • 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.

    • 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

    • 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.

  • I drove the S430 for 5 years, then the SL550 for another 5 years before switching to the van (kids!)... but the DeLorean has always been my first love when it comes to cars. When I was in high school, to me the vehicle in "Back to the Future" was not just an exemplary car, it was a century ahead of its time. Even if I won't be able to afford one of those things in the future, I certainly want it to see the light of day. Nice!!

  • Body material? (Score:3)

    by RJFerret ( 1279530 ) on Thursday January 21, 2021 @08:26PM (#60976276)

    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.

    • The Saturn vehicles never seemed to have any problem with the body panels tearing. I just recently saw one from the early 90's and it looked like it was in new condition! Amazing since I live in Minnesota and the snow and salt will turn a metal body into rusty swiss cheese before the warranty runs out!

      • 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.

    • 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.

  • 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.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      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.

  • Face it. Everyone wants to be seen in a DeLorean, but there are so many better cars to drive, own, and maintain. We don't need someone to start up a DeLorean electric car company. What we need is someone to invent a holographic generator to make your existing car look like a DeLorean. Pay an extra $200 and get the upgrade that puts the blue lighting and Mr. Fusion on it too!

  • Of course, the internal combustion engine of the car always ran on ordinary gasoline.

  • 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.

    • The zero creativity generation. It's like all they can do, is glue together things that already exist, in new, pointless ways.

      That explains all the freakin' code libraries, frameworks, etc and the resulting mess.

  • "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."

    To those who say that regulation doesn't work, this would be an excellent real life example of it working exactly as intended.

  • will we be able to recharge it with a lightning strike ?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by k6mfw ( 1182893 )
      Unless you can predict when and where lightning will strike, such a recharge procedure is like a screen door on a battleship.

  • DeLorean for sale (Score:3)

    by KimDotOrg ( 7630658 ) on Friday January 22, 2021 @05:08AM (#60977248)
    Good quality, only used from time to time.
  • The japanese beat you to it: https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]

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