Shipbucket

Posted: Monday, October 17, 2011 6:01 pm | Updated: 6:22 pm, Mon Oct 17, 2011.
By STEFANIE THOMAS

It was a revelation unlike any other in the history of the DeLorean Motor Company last Friday evening, when the company stunned the crowd by unexpectedly presenting a prototype that will catapult the iconic DeLorean cars into the future: the Electric DeLorean.

“What we [showed] tonight is major leaps forward,” said Stephen Wynne, owner of DMC. “We have had a few incremental updates over time, but as far as substantial updates go, it’s been 30 years.”

Wynne said the company worked on the design for the Electric DeLorean, which boasts a maximum speed of 125 mph and 260 hp, for about four years. DMC plans on bringing the car to market in 2013, at a retail price of $90,000 to $100,000. Meanwhile, DMC intends to further developing prototypes combining the existing DeLorean automobile with the Epic EV electric powertrain.

The Oct. 14 unveiling came as a surprise to the guests at the International DeLorean Owners Event at the company’s Humble headquarters.

“We’ve been talking about it for some time but we have stopped giving people completion dates because things weren’t going to plan,” Wynne said. “So we quieted down on what we’re doing.”

The introduction of the Electric DeLorean was not the only bombshell the company dropped on its visitors Friday evening as DMC also showed off with a super-charge DeLorean that features an improved engine and 260 hp, nearly doubling the horsepower of the stock model. Also introduced was a new underbody made of more lightweight yet sturdy materials, manufactured with the original tooling used in the making of the original DeLoreans decades ago.

Despite the numerous changes and improvements DMC presented, the basic exterior look of the DeLorean remains the same. The sport car’s easily recognizable gull-wing doors and rear-mounted engine are still in place.

“A lot of people consider the styling of the DeLorean timeless,” said Toby Peterson, who operates a DMC franchise in Seattle, Wa. and has personally owned a DeLorean for 20 years. “It was state of the art 30 years ago, and it looks state of the art now. It’s a style that has transcended the decades.”

Since the first DeLorean automobiles rolled off the production line in Northern Ireland in 1981, the car has acquired a cult following worldwide. Much of the DeLorean’s fame can be attributed to the “Back to the Future” movie trilogy, which featured a DeLorean time machine and enhanced the car’s futuristic image. Peterson says the DeLorean has also become a nostalgic symbol of the 80s.

“There are a lot of people who grew up and watched the series of ‘Back to the Future’ movies over and over again. I think a lot of people like DeLoreans because it takes them back to a simpler time when we weren’t connected to a smart phone on our hip and had stuff thrown at us 24/7,” he said. “My DeLorean brings a lot of enjoyment not only to me, but also to other people. It puts smiles on people’s faces anytime they see it because it reminds them of simpler times.”

Leif Montin has worked around DeLoreans for more than 30 years. He went to work for the original DMC in Northern Ireland in 1979 as a parts manager, and sat by sadly as John DeLorean ran the company into the ground by 1983, within only a few short years.

“It was a tragedy when they folded, and it wasn’t necessary,” Montin said. “John DeLorean made some disastrous decisions that made the company fail. Fortunately, Stephen Wynne picked it up and did a marvelous job.”

Montin was still responsible for the DMC’s auto parts when the company went bankrupt. He closed the plant in Ireland, he said, shipped the parts to Ohio and later, when Wynne purchased the inventory, arranged for their transport to Humble. Today, the DeLorean Motor Company in Humble, established in 1995, still has the largest inventory of original DeLorean parts in the world.

“With all the parts we have, we can rebuild the cars from scratch,” said Montin, who is officially retired but finds it difficult to stay away from his lifelong passion. “In the last couple of years we started building new cars from the original parts, and so far we have built [41] of them to order. We build better cars from scratch than what came from the factory back then.”

In addition to assembling cars to order, featuring parts or designs from the original DeLorean automobile combined with modern engine and suspension technology, DMC also services, restores and sells DeLorean automobiles, parts, accessories and merchandise to customers around the world.

“It’s amazing, really — a 30-year-old car that’s as popular today as it was then,” Montin said, “Thanks to the job they do here, the DeLorean will live forever.”

For full specs on the Electric DeLorean, please view this article at http://www.yourhumblenews.com.

For more information on the DeLorean Motor Company, visit http://www.delorean.com.

Electric DeLorean: First Drive

The DeLorean's long been associated with technology and performance, despite being saddled with a French-Swedish powerplant that made those associations slightly laughable. This weekend I drove the Electric DeLorean. I'm not laughing anymore.

This weekend was the International DeLorean Owners Event in Houston, Texas. Lovers of the stainless steel sports car assembled at the HQ of the DeLorean Motor Company (DMC), the modern version of the company that reigns over a kingdom of spares.

DMC used the event to present its devoted fanbase with a prototype vision of the future: the electric DMCEV. They've removed the underpowered PRV V6 guts and replaced them with a 260 hp (equivalent) electric motor. Its interior gets updated with some modern switchgear and electronics.

I was told, to really appreciate it, I had to drive it. So I did.

"Turn the key until you hear the click, then turn the center dial over to 'D'" DMC president Stephen Wynne tells me. Honestly, I'm still buzzing from the sensation of closing the stainless steel gullwing door just moments earlier. I twist the key and rotate the surprisingly weighty metal dial. Silence. I press the gas pedal, which, true to form with any 1980s exotic, has so much resistance it's more like a piece of gym equipment. Press harder, and we silently glide forward.

Wynne and I are on a 3/8 mile oval track that I didn't know existed in Houston until about 15 minutes ago. He calls this DMCEV "version 0.9" — a not-quite-1.0 working prototype that the company has been dreaming of for years and testing for a few months. It has some amazingly trick parts, including an integrated iPhone dock inside and a hinged grille up front that opens to reveal the charging port.

It's being developed with the fittingly-named Flux Power, a California battery systems company launched by a co-founder of Aptera. In testing around southern CA, this prototype has had a range of 70 miles "comfortably" and closer to 100 miles when driven extra efficiently. That's Nissan Leaf territory.

I drove a couple laps slowly, getting a feel for the firm, weighty steering and heavy effort needed to push both pedals (even the parking brake requires some force). Wynne, grinning, encourages me to get on the power hard on the next straightaway.

When someone gives you permission to go all Daytona USA in an electron-powered DeLorean, you just turn your brain off and do what the man says.

I grip the thick, DMC-customized Momo steering wheel tighter and open up the throttle throttle as we exit the banking. It surges forward. It feels like a car carrying bit of weight, but now with more than enough torque to overcome its heft.

We whisk down the too-short straight and arrive almost instantly at the next corner without making sound. This is making sense. If the DMCEV can do 0-to-60 mph in 4.9 seconds as DMC claims, it will finally pack the performance that the Giugiaro body has been promising all these years.

If the DMCEV can maintain such performance while producing a reasonable range it'll be an accomplishment given the electric system adds about 200 pounds to the weight of the car, despite the lack of engine and transmission. DMC plans to offset this with a an all-new resin infused composite underbody they've developed with Epic EV that is hundreds of pounds lighter.

The battery positioning also helps improve on the rear-biased 35%/65% weight distribution of the standard DeLorean. The motor in the prototype is a DC-type, but the next prototype will move to regenerative AC technology, which will boost efficiency further.

We pull into the pit after a few more laps, and I notice some of the squeaks they told me about coming from the interior. One downside to a silent motor is that they're discovering new sounds that previously went unnoticed.

"I'm afraid someone's going to steal it," Wynne says with a laugh. "They'll just drive it right out of the shop and won't hear it leave!"

A proper, factory-backed electric DeLorean makes so much sense that it seems like the destiny that this timeless-1980s icon was always meant to fulfill. It's impossible to find a review of any electric vehicle that doesn't hail it as "the future." Yet the most futuristic of all of these electric cars might be one straight out of the past.

I can't help but notice that they doesn't mention how long it's going to take to charge the batteries and how many cycles they can take before needing to be replaced. Because those are the two main issues I have with electric cars.

DeLorean Isn't this guy who fleeced the British goverment big time with his crappy sportscar, badly built (when any were), cost the British taxpayer mega millions, and meant to help revive the Northern Irish economy? Um... nice to see him still prospering