1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Electric DeLorean

Discussion in 'EV (Electric Vehicle) Discussion' started by GrumpyCabbie, Apr 2, 2012.

  1. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2009
    6,722
    2,120
    45
    Location:
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Que amusing comments about Mr Fusion, battery power - is it 1.21 GW? where's the flux capacitor etc, but a DMC DeLorean goes EV;

    BBC News - Back to the future as DeLorean goes electric

    Probably a better car than the original in that 0-60 is 5 seconds. The price at £57,000 or $90,000 isn't too bad considering a good used example of the petrol version demands a good second hand price- most have been bodged into Back to the Future lookalikes.
     
    Dylan Doxey likes this.
  2. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2004
    14,487
    1,518
    0
    Location:
    Spokane, WA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    According to the article, he's going to charge as much as a fully loaded Tesla Model S for a car that has a range of 100 miles.

    FAIL!
     
    1 person likes this.
  3. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2009
    6,722
    2,120
    45
    Location:
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    It's the plugging it in to the town hall clock on a stormy night to recharge it that worries me.
     
  4. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
    4,003
    944
    118
    Location:
    Los Angeles Foothills
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    "Cameron Wynne, head of purchasing at DeLorean and Stephen Wynne's son, is undaunted by the suggestion that the car's limited range would be a tough sell, particularly in the US.

    "The American public, when they hear about an electric car, their first question is:
    'Well, what do I do when I go on a road trip?'" he says.
    "But how many times a year do you honestly go on a road trip when you use your own car? You typically rent a car, because you don't want to put mileage on your own car."

    Really, I have never met anyone, anywhere that did this.....rent a car, for a road trip, really?
    Maybe it's a British thing. Grumpy, what do you say?
    I like the car, I like the idea, I think it's 30K too expensive, minimum!
    We still need Bigger, Better, Badder, Batteries!
    A nice mileage number would be 400 trip miles, with a < 4 hr 220 VAC full charge time.
    It will happen, it's just a matter of when!
     
  5. ralleia

    ralleia Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2012
    386
    137
    0
    Location:
    Omaha, Nebraska, United States
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    HAHAHAHAHAHA :bounce::bounce::bounce:

    Feels like geek central here. In other words, feels downright homey. :D
     
  6. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2009
    6,722
    2,120
    45
    Location:
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    It surprised me too. I thought it was some weird American thing. :cool:


    We hire/rent cars a lot less than you do in the States. We either go by car, train or fly, but hire a car in addition to your own just for a road trip? Maybe if I was going on holiday in Spain or Greece or anywhere else 2000 miles away over the sea.
     
    1 person likes this.
  7. ralleia

    ralleia Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2012
    386
    137
    0
    Location:
    Omaha, Nebraska, United States
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    I have rented a car for a road trip twice. If you're carting a family on a long trip and you don't own a minivan, then sometimes it's nice to rent a minivan with the DVD console to entertain the kids. Secondly, if you keep cars for a long, long time, a newer model might be slightly more reliable than your vehicle. Third, if you are doing a LOT of driving, then a rental with unlimited miles beats putting all those miles on your faithful steed.

    Oh, I should clarify that yes, I am American.
     
  8. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
    4,003
    944
    118
    Location:
    Los Angeles Foothills
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    OK, that sounds logical, thanks
     
  9. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2010
    4,539
    1,433
    9
    Location:
    Northern California
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    There ya go, I've rented a car for road trip twice. In both cases the road trip started and ended about 3,000 miles from home, so I saved 6,000 miles of driving each time by renting.

    Here's to Great Britain where 200 miles is a long distance
    and to the United States where 200 years is a long time.
     
    1 person likes this.
  10. justlurkin

    justlurkin Señor Member

    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2007
    499
    63
    0
    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    The original Delorean DMC-12 had a 130-hp engine.

    Somebody needs to put the Prius HSD into a DMC-12. Same horsepower (130hp), but double the fuel economy. :D
     
  11. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2009
    6,722
    2,120
    45
    Location:
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    We're a small island about 1,000 mile end to end. A 'road trip' (term used lightly in our context) in the UK will be in your own car and very few people will consider renting a car instead of taking their own.

    As we're an island, going anywhere further than 1,000 miles involves crossing the sea (tunnel or ferry) which is time consuming and expensive. Then there's the issue of lhd & rhd cars. Most people here will holiday in France, Spain, Greece, Cyprus or Turkey. If you're heading to France 80% of people will take their car, but go elsewhere and you will fly and then rent.

    Driving through Europe from the UK to Greece can be and is done and would be an adventure, but it isn't the same as driving from LA to Miami - different languages, tolls, international borders and $9 a gallon all the way. Not everyones idea of fun for their 2 week holiday.
     
  12. johalareewi

    johalareewi Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2009
    393
    44
    1
    Location:
    uk
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I did look at driving the Prius to Hungary (from the UK) last year to attend my brother's wedding. As well as the fuel and motorway tolls, I would have needed an overnight stop and it worked out cheaper (and quicker) to fly, then catch the train. Hungarian trains are really cheap.
     
  13. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2004
    14,487
    1,518
    0
    Location:
    Spokane, WA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Assuming 300 wH/mile, that's 120 kWh, so to recharge in 4 hours means a 30 kW charger. At 240 vac that's 125 amps. That's some mighty heavy current. Even at 440 volts you'd need about 60 amps. I think 440 is the way it will be done.

    But just boost that battery to 180 kWh for 600 miles range, and now you can charge overnight. With 12 hours to charge instead of 4 (and after all, who wants to sit around for 4 hours waiting for a charge?) you'd only need a 15 kW charger, which would be much more practical.
     
  14. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2006
    7,028
    1,116
    0
    Location:
    South Jersey
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    The DeLorean is not the best platform for an EV because stainless steel is heavy. It's still a conversion so the batteries & all the stuff needed have to be shoe horned into the existing body. At the end of the day it's not going to have the performance of a vehicle designed to be an EV but it will look like a DeLorean. "You can have any color you want as long as it is silver."
     
  15. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2009
    6,722
    2,120
    45
    Location:
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    And what more could you want?
     
  16. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2004
    14,487
    1,518
    0
    Location:
    Spokane, WA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    A Tesla?
     
    1 person likes this.
  17. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2006
    21,590
    11,212
    0
    Location:
    eastern Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    A new DeLorean, made from never used warehouse parts, starts at over 60 grand. Another 30 for a limited run, likely hand built, EV version sounds right.

    The Tesla S is a better EV. It is also a new car of a, hopefully, non-limited supply. 20 years from now, the ones made today might also demand exorbitant prices like the DeLorean.