Automotive

DeLorean previews Alpha5 Launch Edition ahead of Pebble Beach debut

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The Alpha5 Launch Edition electric sports coupe retains style touches from the original DeLorean, such as those massive gullwing doors
DeLorean Motor Company
The Alpha5 Launch Edition electric sports coupe retains style touches from the original DeLorean, such as those massive gullwing doors
DeLorean Motor Company
Inside, the Alpha5 seats four, has a center console that rises to a touchscreen control panel and features a wide digital instrument cluster in front of the oddly-shaped steering wheel
DeLorean Motor Company
The Alpha5 appears to offer excellent visibility, and has a minimalist interior with both physical and touchscreen controls
DeLorean Motor Company
The flowing modern body offers a drag coefficient of 0.23 Cd
DeLorean Motor Company
The Alpha5 is estimated to sprint from standstill to 88 mph in 4.35 seconds
DeLorean Motor Company
The Alpha5's roofline ends in chunky rear window louvers
DeLorean Motor Company
The charging port is driver side, just in front of the massive gullwing door
DeLorean Motor Company
Aggressive rear end with full-width strip lighting and illuminated highlighting
DeLorean Motor Company
The DeLorean Motor Company partnered with Giorgetto Giugiaro's Italdesign studio for the evolved aesthetic
DeLorean Motor Company
A Back to the Future DeLorean visiting the 2013 Paris Air Show
Paul Ridden/New Atlas
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The DeLorean Motor Company has offered an early look at an upcoming all-electric evolution of the vehicle made famous by the Back to the Future trilogy. The Alpha5 sports coupe will debut at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August.

By the time Doctor Emmett Brown revealed his sporty time-traveling car to Marty McFly in the first Back to the Future movie, the Giugiaro-designed two-door DMC had already gone out of production and the company had gone bankrupt. The iconic name resurfaced in 1995 to support existing owners, and relaunched earlier this year with plans to bring a luxury EV to market.

Now the DeLorean Motor Company has revealed the first concept images and key specs ahead of a full reveal later in the year. The evolved electric sports coupe has been designed with Italdesign studio, which Giugiaro resigned from in 2015, and retains a few elements from the original DMC, including signature gullwing doors and chunky rear window louvers.

The Alpha5 is a bigger vehicle than its famous ancestor – with a total length of 4,995 mm (196.6 in), a 2,300-mm (90.5-in) wheelbase, a width of 2,044 mm (80.4 in) and a height with doors closed of 1,370 mm (53.9 in). It's modern body is designed to slip through the air, though its drag coefficient of 0.23 Cd is not as impressive as the aero chops of the Lucid Air or Mercedes EQS.

The DeLorean Motor Company partnered with Giorgetto Giugiaro's Italdesign studio for the evolved aesthetic
DeLorean Motor Company

Full-width strip lighting enlivens the rear while thin slit headlights sit either side of the company name at the end of the hood, the electric coupe rolls on turbine-like wheels and sports a driver-side charging port ahead of the chunky door.

Inside are two seats in the rear and two in front, a wide digital instrument cluster in front of a steering wheel rocking a flat bottom, and the square control display rises up from the floating center console.

The Alpha5 appears to offer excellent visibility, and has a minimalist interior with both physical and touchscreen controls
DeLorean Motor Company

Some estimated performance specs for the base model have been shared, such as a sprint from standstill to 60 mph (96.5 km/h) time of 2.99 seconds and up to that magical 88 mph (141.6 km/h) in 4.35 seconds for an all-important Doc Brown moment, on the way to a top speed of 155 mph (249.4 km/h).

The company is aiming to install a battery pack of more than a 100 kWh for a per-charge range in excess of 300 miles (482.8 km), though we'll have to wait for official EPA figures later down the line. And that's about it for the moment.

Aggressive rear end with full-width strip lighting and illuminated highlighting
DeLorean Motor Company

"The Alpha5 is a representation of the past 40 years of DeLorean," said the company's Chief Marketing Officer, Troy Beetz. "There was this enormous responsibility to make sure we honored the history of the DeLorean brand, but an even greater responsibility in curating its future... I think we did both with the Alpha5."

There's been no mention of a production schedule or potential pricing, but Autocar reports that the launch edition will be limited to just 88 models and they will be track-only. Folks will be able to see the concept vehicle in person at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on August 18 – and given the chosen venue for the debut, we can guesstimate that the Alpha5 Launch Edition will be very much aimed at the luxury driver.

Source: DeLorean Motor Company

View gallery - 10 images
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20 comments
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I've owned a Delorean. I loved my Delorean. This looks more like a Ford Probe than a Delorean. Why is it not stainless steel? Why are there rear seats? Why is it bigger?
The one attribute about the original is that it was a cool looking car. Even 20 years after production stopped it was a head turner. This is not that.
guzmanchinky
This looks very nice. Maybe when you really step on it the center screen shows a flux capacitor? Hey, 80's nostalgia works for the Plaid...
vince
Sorry the old Delorean looks a lot better than this one.
FB36
Think about massive global environmental impact of car paints! Getting rid of stainless steel body is a backward step, IMHO!
But keeping gullwing doors is good idea since they beneficial during close side-by-side parking situations!
(Also many times I had seen news about people driving e-scooters having accidents/crashes because of suddenly opening car doors in front of them!)
WB
sorry this needs to be stainless steel
RoGuE_StreaK
100kWh battery? That could only sustain 1.21GW for 0.3 seconds!
Derek Howe
Nice looking, has a few DeLorean cues, but not enough. NEEDED to be Stainless, not silver paint.
Nunnya Bizniss
Guigiaro and his son sold a 90% stake in Italdesign to Audi back in 2010. In 2015 they both left and sold the rest of their holdings to Audi. Later in 2015 it was announced that Guigiaro and his son were starting a new design house.

In other words while its from Italdesign, Guigiaro and/or his son had nothing to do with it.
Claudio
Why on Earth did they need to write "Delorean" twice on the back end? A designer with memory issues?
David V
Agree with most of the comments ; just not Delorean enough. New Beetle was like Old Beetle but better. Porsches always look like Porsches. This isn't. Gull-winged doors are fantastic and the back view is beautiful but the design is so far from the original I wouldn't recognize this on the road as a Delorean. This does look nice though but could be any brand. Will it be built in Northern Ireland ?