The trend for converting classic cars to battery power shows no signs of abating. Quite the opposite. And as it speeds up, so the surrounding ethical debate continues to evolve - hopefully in a mature and measured way. Stranger things have happened. While for some an older car is simply incomplete without its pistons, cams, manifolds and crank, for others the constant maintenance required by an old combustion unit is an impediment to them being used. Is the long and short of it.
The latter part of that discussion is an argument heard quite a lot by Electrogenic, the Oxfordshire-based EV specialists (note: not restoration people) that are responsible for this battery-powered DeLorean. They have older customers that like the ease of use offered by ditching transmissions and cold start problems, plus younger clients who only really know cars that are simple to care for - and want that ease combined with old-school style. Cars that have lay dormant following one mechanical problem after another are brought back to life (and to use) with Electrogenic’s combo of OE-spec motors and batteries with their own proprietary software. No Tesla batteries and online hacks here. Of the 70 or so cars Electrogenic has converted thus far, with no bodywork drilled, cut or welded, not one customer has wanted their combustion engine back in. So something’s going right.
Making one-off builds like the DeLorean (and Jason Mamoa’s 1929 Rolls-Royce, no less) is just part of the firm, however. There are unlikely to be very many more DMC-12s like this, as it’s not their main business, and it’s a powertrain swap rather than a ground up rebuild with new leather and extravagant trim. They also provide small OEMs with powertrain solutions (where again software is key), and have a military contract in place to electrify combat vehicles (the latter a very interesting story for another day).
Anyway, the DeLorean. There’s nothing to identify it as anything but a DMC-12 from the outside, the only external giveaway being a CCS charge port (up to 60kW is possible) hidden behind the numberplate. The 43kWh battery pack and 160kW motor nestle behind the seats where the old PRV V6 and transmission would have been, looking for all the world like it always should have been there. (Yes, really). As someone with some reservations about this kind of swap, it’s hard not to be impressed at just how neatly the package has been adapted to fit back there. A large, flat storage space remains at the front, with the charge cable there also. The surprise is just how normal, how appropriate it all feels.
Same story inside, with the changes for the interior amounting to a new mode switch and drive dial in the centre console, plus a new display in the dash and a very clever repurposing of the rev counter to show power use and regen. The customer of this car wanted a new CarPlay-compatible stereo, too. The speedo still goes to 85mph (as was a requirement for the US-market cars apparently) and it even still starts on the key. Select ‘D’, release the handbrake, off you go.
A faint whirr and whine feels like a very apt soundtrack for the DeLorean. Having not driven the original V6, it’s impossible to know how they compare, but where it’d be hard to countenance an E-Type without a straight six (or even V12), this makes total sense. Of course, the most futuristic of '80s automotive ideas (or the weirdest, at any rate) should be running on electric motors, without anything so cumbersome as gears or a strangled engine.
By their nature, EVs are easier to operate than their combustion counterparts, but there’s something immediately impressive about how the Electrogenic build goes about its business. Again it’s the software that’s crucial to this driveability, getting the throttle response, brake regen and low-speed creep just so. After quite a few warnings about how careful we should be in a one-off customer car that everyone likes to look at but nobody can really see out of, the DeLorean is a cinch. Electrogenic can adjust throttle mapping in no time at all, but this stock setup feels bob on.
Eco doesn’t have any regen and uses about 70 per cent of the available 220hp; it’s adequately brisk for everyday traffic. Normal introduces nicely judged regen and around 80 per cent of maximum performance, with Sport unleashing the full potential and keeping regen. It’s a good amount of power, making the DeLorean feel fast (as well as super responsive) without any sense of it proving too much for standard suspension and brakes. The regen aspect has been tuned to ensure that its severity increases as speeds slow; the last thing anyone wants in an old car is drastic deceleration when lifting off. Again it’s a mark of how clever the calibration is that everything behaves as expected. The car requires no acclimatisation at all; think of it simply as a new, high-quality battery-electric powertrain. In a stainless steel spaceship from 1982.
Electrogenic likes to talk of making cars the best possible versions of themselves, rather than entirely reinventing them. This feels like a stretch when ditching legendary flat-sixes, but here it’s hard not to nod along. Nobody, surely, relishes the prospect of a V6 making less than 50hp per litre and wheezing its way to 5,500rpm; the appeal of the DMC-12 was the way it looked and the cult status resulting from its place in cinematic history. Now, though, there’s a powertrain that really does it justice, fast and immediate while also sympathetically integrated and completely fitting. Turns out the DMC-12 doesn’t drive half bad, either.
Even allowing for the constant temptation to shout, "wait a minute, are you telling me that this sucker is nuclear?" it's easy to see the appeal. Indeed, another string to its low-effort bow is having a network of international partners and so much of the important stuff sorted in house; EV conversion kits, complete with a diagnostics tool if things aren’t immediately tickety-boo, go out across the world most days. Typically it takes a working week to convert from combustion, and that includes taking the engine out.
Even a short drive is pretty persuasive, especially once you’ve seen behind the scenes and got some understanding of the expertise that goes into it. Cars that make things look easiest have the most work put in; the way the DeLorean works as an EV rivals OEMs in terms of drivability. For some, of course, it will always stray too far from the petrol-burning original and represent too much of an investment (a price hasn’t yet been announced, though the kit is listed on Electrogenic’s site). But for creating a DeLorean to use and enjoy every day of the week in 2024, this effort is to be applauded. More than ever, we need old cars around to break up the tedium of new ones. If it’s electric conversions this good that do it, you'll get no complaints from us.
SPECIFICATION | ELECTROGENIC DELOREAN DMC-12
Engine: 43kWh battery, 160kW electric motor
Transmission: Single speed, rear wheel drive
Power (hp): 220
Torque (lb ft): 229
0-62mph: c. 5 seconds
Top speed: c. 100mph
Weight: N/A
CO2: 0g/km driving, c. 150 miles range and 60kW charging
Price: N/A
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