The rebirth of DMC is unsurprisingly electric, initial renders reveal the new Alpha 5 electric sports car
DeLorean Motor Company has released renderings of its comeback car, the Alpha 5. Unsurprisingly, it takes the form of a new electric sports car, but comes with more than a few design cues from the iconic original including its gullwing doors. For now, these digital images give us a good idea of what to expect when it’s revealed in person at the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach later this year.
DMC has released an initial batch of target specifications for the Alpha 5 including a 0-100kph time of under 3sec, a 250kph top speed, 480 kilometer range and 100kWh battery pack. These figures rival something like a Porsche Taycan Turbo S, although power and weight numbers remain unspecified.
Design house ItalDesign has been called in to consult on the design for the Alpha 5, which takes plenty of visual references from the original DMC-12, but repackages it into contemporary design that incorporates larger versions of the original gullwing doors that give access to both rows of seats. This partnership with ItalDesign should yield benefits to the fledgling EV maker, giving gravitas to a model launching into a sea of startups and new-era electric car companies.
The rest of the design exploits a more contemporary and curvaceous design language, rather than an obvious pastiche of late-1970s motifs. The black roof instantly informs a more modern design, so too a rising windowline and slim LED lighting graphics. The new DeLorean will also feature an active rear wing, which itself creates a completely different silhouette to the iconic original.
The Alpha 5 won’t just be a one-off, either. It’s just one in a range of new cars the reformed DMC plans on introducing in the next few years, leaving behind its complicated past. This is the controversy surrounding original founder John DeLoren’s downfall after he was charged for trafficking $24 million of narcotics into the United States, leading to the collapse of the British Government backed DeLorean Motor Company, despite the original DeLorean DMC-12 going on to find fame in the film franchise Back to the Future.
Today’s DeLorean has little to do with the former, with the brand reborn by Stephen Wynne who purchased the rights to the company in 1995 and established a new headquarters in San Antonio, Texas – a far cry from the suburbs of Belfast where the original DMC was located.
We expect more information to be released about the new Alpha 5 closer to its in-person debut at Pebble Beach Concours in late August, but until then DMC is back, and in a better position than ever to prosper as a new-age EV manufacturer.
This article originally appeared at evo.co.uk
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