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Electric DeLorean DMC-12: Better Than The Original? (Video)

 
16,336 views Aug 14, 2012
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There's a line of thinking that recommends that you never meet your heroes, as they'll only disappoint you.

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You could argue that the same applies to cars, and the DeLorean DMC-12, stainless star of the silver screen, is often described as one of those cars--slow, crude, not great fun to drive.


But Matt Farah from the DRIVE channel on Youtube has been hunting for his ideal DeLorean, and that search has brought him to the electric-powered version you can see in the video above.

It's actually the creation of the DeLorean Motor Company (DMC), the phoenix-like reinvention of the company that started it all those years ago.

DMC bought all the tooling and parts--and the name--from the receivers, and now survives by providing spares for every DeLorean on the planet. Oh, and they also make an electric DeLorean...

Where we're going, we don't need internal combustion...

With 230 horsepower and 240 lbs ft. of torque, it has around 100 horsepower more than the original's Renault/Peugeot/Volvo V-6, and twice the torque. Top speed is over 100mph, and the benchmark 0-60mph sprint takes "sub 5 seconds". That's around half the time the original car takes to reach the same speed.

The prototype uses a lithium-ion phosphate battery pack and a DC motor, but production examples will use an AC motor so regenerative braking can be utilized. The production model will also feature a larger battery pack, extending into the currently-empty transmission tunnel--so range could be as much as 200 miles.

The production car will even feature "reverse to grid", a system we've seen with the "i-MiEV house", where the car's battery can actually be used to supply power to your home, in times of a power outage.

Price is currently estimated at $95,000, or around double that of a top condition standard DeLorean. That's a lot of money, but for the small range of buyers who'll get their hands on a car, almost certainly worth it.

An electric DeLorean? This is one hero you really should meet...

+++++++++++

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Comments (13)

  1. fb_1001015277 avatar John Briggs Posted: 8/14/2012 5:59am PDT

    35 kwh electric motor? Boy we have a long way to go in the EV world.
     
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  2. fb_1559222512 avatar Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/14/2012 2:03pm PDT

    35KWh? That is an energy term, not a power term... I know. In the video, I think the owner has mis-spoken...

    230hp is approximately 170KW. That is a pretty large DC motor. It will lose its torque as the speed increases.

    I am NOT sure a 35KWh battery will power a home for 3 days. Typical homes consume about 400KWh per month. In TX, I imagine it will be higher due to A/C usage. It will be lucky if the 35KWh can last 2 days...
     
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  3. CDspeed avatar CDspeed . Posted: 8/14/2012 6:37am PDT

    Sounds like a well executed conversion to me. I think sometime in the near future someone needs to start manufacturing custom EV parts. There is already a huge custom cars industry, a hot rod is basically a conversion. I would love to buy a beat up classic car restore it and modify it to electric. I've seen plenty of classics for sale that are missing their engines so in some cases you wouldn't really be ruining the originality of an old car. Tons of classic style and no smog.
     
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  4. Daox avatar Tim Fulton Posted: 8/14/2012 10:28am PDT

    There are already a bunch of companies offering EV parts to do your own conversion for cars, motorcycles, etc. Just ask google or check out diyelectriccar.com.
     
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  5. fb_1559222512 avatar Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/14/2012 2:04pm PDT

    One of the people at my work has converted a 1965 Mustang Convertible. He has driven it for the last 10 years and getting free chargs at work. But he gets about 40 miles in range.
     
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  6. fb_617425598 avatar Paul Cunningham Posted: 11/6/2012 5:24pm PST

    Anthony Kiedis for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers has an electric late 60's Camaro, good power but limited range.... I saw the build on a Turbo TV show a couple of years back, Dr. Green or something like that. If you Google it you may be able to find info on the builders.... there are also electric 356's and such kicking about and there are conversion kits available.... but most I have seen offer 45 miles(ish) of range..... I think that has been the primary issue with uptake.
     
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  7. fb_100000473084758 avatar Joe Tomicki Posted: 8/14/2012 6:50pm PDT

    this power your house thing is dumb if the power stays off u r stuck till the power comes back on. a genrator would be smarter buy.
     
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  8. fb_611244113 avatar Jim DeLillo Posted: 11/6/2012 6:18am PST

    Flux capacitor is optional.
     
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  9. fb_1136291965 avatar Erich Friend Posted: 11/6/2012 6:32am PST

    0-60 in 5 seconds. Beh! How long does it take to get to 88 MPH?
     
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  10. Baker1 avatar Eric Bleak Posted: 11/6/2012 10:10am PST

    Look guys, if your power is out you're not going to be running everything in the house... you're going to be using only what you need and be conserving. I live on the side of a mountain and would love to have this kind of option; $5000 for a generator is a lot to invest for something that's otherwise useless. It'd cost double that to run my air conditioning (although when we get power outages we're more concerned with not freezing to death).

    And Matt, please stop yelling at us, the viewers. Your approach makes your monologues difficult to watch. Talk to us the way you talked to your interviewee...
     
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  11. Baker1 avatar Eric Bleak Posted: 11/6/2012 10:24am PST

    In the case of a power outage, you're not powering everything in the house. You're trying merely to keep from freezing to death in the extreme conditions of an ice storm. I personally would love this option; I live on the side of a mountain where power is flaky in the winter, and a $5000 - $7500 generator makes no sense just to have it sitting around most of the time. I could make it for a week with that kind of reserve power. Give me a 230V tap and I'll be happy with water from my well!

    And Matt, please stop yelling at us, the viewer. Instead talk WITH us the way you talked with your interviewee.
     
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  12. Monty avatar J M Montgomerie Posted: 11/8/2012 2:37am PST

    Two things to remember about electric cars:
    1: The amount of energy that can be carried in a vehicle as electrical charge is still only a fraction of that which can be carried as chemical energy for use in an IC engine – basically, we are still a long way from being able to carry the battery equivalent of 10 gallons of diesel/gasoline.
    2: There is no environmental benefit in electric cars if the charge they use comes from a grid which is largely supplied by burning fossil fuels, it merely shifts the source of the pollution - in fact it's worse, since power stations are generally dirtier per KW output than modern vehicles, plus you’ve got transmission losses …
    I’m afraid I don’t see us cracking either of these any time soon.
    Monty
     
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  13. john_v avatar John Voelcker Posted: 11/8/2012 4:15am PST

    @Monty: For the U.S., it's lower-carbon to drive 1 mile on plug power than in a 25-mpg car even if the electric is plugged into the dirtiest grid in the nation (WV and ND, if I recall). When you get up to 50 mpg (e.g. Prius), then burning gasoline is slightly lower-carbon than those dirtiest grids. (per 2007 EPRI-NRDC study)

    But California, which will buy more plug-ins than the next 5 states combined, has a fairly clean grid. The equivalency there is ~ 100 mpg. Which is to say, in CA, the plug-in will ALWAYS be cleaner.

    In Europe, which (aside from France) has remarkably dirty (coal-heavy) grids and much higher average vehicle efficiency, the numbers are not as good. Where do you live?
     
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