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The electric DMC-12: Time travel optional

DeLorean Motor Cars and Epic Electric Vehicles are working together to produce an electric version of the DMC-12, the car made famous in the Back to the Future movies.

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DeLorean DMC-12 EV

Epic Electric Vehicles converted this DMC-12 to run on electricity.

(Credit: DeLorean)

DeLorean Motor Company showed off a prototype of an electrically driven DMC-12, which it promises to put into production in 2013.

You won't need a bolt of lightning to charge it up, and you won't be able to run it on eggshells and coffee grounds. Unlike the "Back to the Future" time machine, this DMC-12 electric conversion gets its electricity from the grid.

The DeLorean Motor Company (yes, it still exists), showed off the prototype at an owners' event last week.

DeLorean DMC-12 EV

DeLorean updated the cabin of the DMC-12 EV with modern electronics.

(Credit: DeLorean)

DeLorean currently maintains a parts warehouse and offers services to repair and restore existing DMC-12s. The company can even build a new DMC-12 using 80 percent original parts.

Partnering with Epic Electric Vehicles, the company developed the prototype DMC-12 that, according to an article at Reuters, has a range of 70 to 100 miles. A 125-horsepower electric motor drives the wheels to a top speed of 125 mph, well above the 88 mph needed to travel through time.

Epic currently makes a single on-road vehicle, an open-wheel two-seater with a 24-kwh lithium ion phosphate battery pack and an electric motor with peak output of 200 horsepower. It is likely that Epic uses a similar drivetrain in the DMC-12 conversion.

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