Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Electric DeLorean DMC-12 - Better than Original? w/Video

There's a line of thinking that recommends that you never meet your heroes, as they'll only disappoint you.
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 at the bottom.

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...





Source: Green Car Reports

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