I admit it. I’m an eco-nerd. My day-job is working for a nonprofit on environmental advocacy. I don’t like oil, I really despise coal, and I loooove efficiency. I love Priuses, I love the Camry and Accord hybrids even more, and my boss has a Chevy Volt. So, yeah, I look forward to the day of being able to plug in my car instead of filling it up.
Well, if I wait a couple years, I might be able to get an electric DeLorean. That’s right- they announced last week plans to put into production an updated version of the iconic DMC-12 that will be completely electric, likely to “street” in 2013. Yeah, who knew they were still a car company, right? Well, until now they’ve mostly focused on parts and retrofits for old DeLoreans, who are now, most likely, almost all driven by Back to the Future enthusiasts.
As radiaclly cool as this is, and before we get all excited to put in our own flux capacitor and Mr Fusion in a 2013 Electric DeLorean, let me throw a couple wet blankets on this idea.
Unfortunately, the cars are probably going to cost as much as $90,000, according to the automaker now headquartered in Humble, TX. So, unfortunately, only the richest nerds will be able to partake of electric DeLorean goodness. And for the price, you could get a Tesla Roadster, which apart from being electric is just a sweet racecar.
The other problem? Could DeLorean’s signature stainless steel body possibly be too heavy to make this practical as an electric car? Electric and hybrid vehicles really need to be far more lightweight and streamlined than your typical car, which explains the Prius’s odd bodyshape and the relative weight of the car. So while it won’t take 1.21 gigawatts to get you up to 88 pmh, it’ll take more energy than your average smaller, lighter car like the Nissan Leaf. And more energy means the need for larger batteries, which adds more weight. . . .it’s all a terrible downward spiral. So unless they can cut down on the body weight, it’s going to be a less efficient electric vehicle.
The good news is that DeLoreans have actually been doing quite well in the electric conversion aftermarket. One of the main problems with the DeLoreans are their massively underperforming engines– which made getting a real one to 88 mph a big problem. Electric vehicle enthusiasts swapped out the motor for an electric one and some battery packs– and 0 to 60 in nothing flat. It’s likely because of this aftermarket niche market that has popped up, and the continuing popularity of Back to the Future, that drove DeLorean to consider making an all-electric model.
Certainly this will be a niche market, but it will be cool nonetheless. People driving electric DeLoreans will likely be more interested in nostalgia than cutting their carbon footprint. Unfortunately, it just won’t be accessible for most of us. Now if only someone could figure out how to make a DeLorean fly (either a la Back to the Future OR Matt Tracker’s awesome car in MASK), we’d really be cooking. But until then, we just have to wait for it, just like the hoverboard.