It’s best known for appearing in the 1985 American sci-fi classic ‘Back to the Future’.
Now, the DeLorean motor car is set to make a comeback, as an environmentally-friendly all-electric vehicle.
New renders show the upcoming reboot, called ‘Alpha5 EV’, with the original car’s silver body and iconic gull-wing doors either side. A slatted rear window and futuristic red tail lights also provide a fitting tribute to the original, which was memorably modified to work as a time machine in ‘Back to the Future’. It can reach 88 miles per hour in just 4.35 seconds – but sadly won’t allow you to traverse the space-time continuum.
The company that developed the original DeLorean car – DeLorean Motor Company, or DMC – went bankrupt in 1982. But the rights to the DeLorean brand were purchased back in the 1990s by a new company that adopted the same name.
After focusing on services and restoration for nearly 30 years, the new DeLorean Motor Company is preparing the release of the new all-electric vehicle.
‘There was this enormous responsibility to make sure we honoured the history of the DeLorean brand, but an even greater responsibility in curating its future,’ said Troy Beetz, chief marketing officer for the new Delorean. ‘I think we did both with the Alpha5.’
The firm refers to the beloved original as ‘DMC-12’, which was the name given internally during development over 40 years ago, even though it was never used in sales or marketing.
‘The DMC-12 was never meant to be a static interpretation of the brand, the brand would constantly evolve,’ it says on its website. ‘DMC is and always was in constant evolution. An icon is validated over time but to constantly reimagine mobility allows new icons to come into existence.’
The new renders show that the car seats four people, including the driver, with comfy-looking arm rests between the seats in both the front and back. There are also two interactive displays to show the driver information such as speed and battery level, but otherwise the dashboard is clean and minimalist.
The company says the new vehicle will be able to reach 60mph in about 2.99 seconds or 88mph in 4.35 seconds, with a top speed of 155mph.
Additionally, Alpha 5 will come with a 100kWh battery, which will cover a range of more than 300 miles on a full charge.
The car’s official reveal will be at the 71st Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, California, on August 18, but it might not be available to consumers until next year or later.
The original DeLorean Motor Company only manufactured the one car during its brief existence, from 1975 to 1982. The company went bankrupt three years before the vehicle made a memorable appearance on the big screen, playing a key part in ‘Back to the Future’.
In the film, the eccentric scientist Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown creates a time machine built from a modified DeLorean, which uses plutonium to power a fictional device called a ‘flux capacitor’ to travel back to 1955. The modified car needs to travel at exactly 88 miles per hour (142 km/h) to initiate time travel, which is the speed Alpha 5 can reach in just 4.35 seconds. The car also appeared in the film’s successful sequels, ‘Back to the Future II’ (1989) and ‘Back to the Future III’ (1990).
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