Back to the Future’s DeLorean to go electric from 2013


19 Oct 2011

The DeLorean Motor Company, which builds and supplies parts for the DeLorean DMC-12 made famous in the Back to the Future movies, is planning an electric version of the iconic car.

The company is working with electric car start-up Epic EV to produce the electric alternative of the car.

ABC News reports that the DeLorean Motor Company has already retro fitted one car with an electric motor. It plans to sell built-to-order electric DeLoreans from 2013.

The electric version is expected to have the equivalent of 260 hp and may reach speeds of 200km/h. It could have a 112km range on a single charge.

The original DeLorean DM-12 was made in 1981 as a sports car with distinctive gull-wing doors for the US market. It was manufactured near Belfast by the US-based DeLorean Motor Company.

However, this was the only model ever created by the company, as it went bankrupt in 1982. Just 9,000 DeLoreans were produced.

The DeLorean DM-12 is most famous for its appearances in the Back to the Future movies, where one of the protagonists, Dr Emmett Brown, turned the vehicle into a time machine. 

The current DeLorean Motor Company, with 60 employees, has no associations with the original company. It was founded in 1995 by Texas entrepreneur Stephen Wynne after he acquired its parts inventory and logo.

The company is the largest source for DeLoreans in the world, assembling and selling the vehicles to fans of the cult car.

The electric DeLorean DM-12 will cost US$90,000 but don’t expect it to have a built-in flux capacitor.