Remember the electric vehicle (EV) variant of the classic DeLorean we talked about in April 2022? Yeah, it wasn’t too long ago, but these days, it can feel like forever when waiting for a legend to make a comeback. Made popular because of the Back to the Future” trilogy, the DeLorean may not be able to bend the laws of time and space (yet), and the rear-engine two-passenger sports car has been absent from the North American auto market since 1983. That’s all about to change with the new DeLorean Alpha5 electric car. Resembling the famous DeLorean DMC-12 model, the main question is – is it fast?

Jeez, DMC really cut it close there. The original full reveal was set for August 2022, and it just came in before the end of the month. We were starting to get worried about a delay, but here it is! The all-electric DeLorean is set to hit the auto market soon enough. Hopefully it won’t disappear in a couple years, because, hey, who doesn’t love those wing-shaped doors? Called the Alpha5, it’s an interesting name to say the least. With cars evolving so much since 1983, it’s hard to say what the new Alpha5 DeLorean should look like. Sure, it should remind us of the original, but with the original model a limited edition in and of itself, who’s to say what the design should have been years later? Little known fact, DMC went bankrupt before the first Back to the Future film debuted, so any designs for future models were instantly scrapped.

Jumping back to the present here, the company’s new designers had 40 years of car styling and technology to consider when designing and producing the new EV DeLorean. For one thing, there were some plans for future DeLoreans as a four-seat sports car, based off of the DMC-24 instead of the DMC-12. It later went on to debut in 1982 as the Lamborghini Marco Polo concept car, followed by several more concepts, the Alpha2 in 1996, Alpha 3 in 2006, and the Alpha4 in 2013. None of these Alpha concepts ever made it to the market. Even if the DeLorean EV was designed to match the look of the original, a retro look doesn’t fit well with the modern look of vehicle today.

So, here we are with the electric SUV, Alpha5. The wing-shaped doors are still a staple look of the vehicle, but the design has been improved for modern times and modern EVs. Since the original company went under, DeLorean’s assets were purchased by a Texas mechanic named Stephen Wynne and other investors to keep the DeLorean alive, and built a reputation for himself on maintaining and repairing DeLorean models that made it to market. After several years, the plan to make an electric DMC-12 surfaced, but instead, the new DeLorean Motor Company was formed with Wynne’s original company as the biggest investor to make all new EVs. At the head of the company is CEO Joost de Vries, bringing his experience from Tesla and Karma Automotive to the table.

Production for the new DeLorean Alpha5 is planned for 2024, but like the original, consumers can expect a limited number of units to be produced - 9,531. That’s one more than the DMC-12 run. Hopefully it’s not a bad omen for the company to go under again. Not many specs have been revealed as of yet, because there’s still plenty of time for technology to improve and change things up. The new DeLorean full-sized luxury SUV should debut by 2023. Hopefully, it won’t die as a concept, like those before it.

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