Could We See a New Electric DeLorean in 2022?

The ad looks great, but we'd love to see more

DeLorean
The 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 from the "Back to the Future" movie series is displayed on the National Mall on September 04, 2021.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

“SIGN UP TO THE FUTURE,” reads a call to action for visitors to DeLorean’s website. While grammatically iffy, it does concisely evoke the DeLorean’s biggest piece of cultural cachet: the prominent use of a DMC-12 in the Back to the Future trilogy. That said, details in the company’s Super Bowl ad and on the website itself are relatively minimal: they’ve been hinting at a revamped (and all-electric) version of the DMC-12 for a while now, and this latest push seems of a piece with what’s come before.

The announcement itself has gotten plenty of coverage, and it isn’t hard to see why: the news of a DeLorean revival combines boutique electric vehicles with iconic automotive design, two things that are catnip to a host of auto enthusiasts.

The lack of more details in the announcement is a little worrying, however. The EV space has abounded with innovative technology and design, but it’s also involved a few high-profile delays and cancellations. The familiar silhouette of the DMC-12 is evocative, but sooner or later, prospective buyers are going to want to see an actual car.

What else do we know about the revived DeLorean? Well, last year they were touting NFTs to commemorate the 40th anniversary of DeLorean’s debut.

We also know that Italdesign, who worked on the original DMC-12, also has a hand in this revival. Both the design firm and the automaker have used similar images to tease the project; Autoblog has a good overview of the subtle differences between the two.

And while it’s unrelated to the relaunched DMC-12 or DeLorean Motor Company, there’s also this DeLorean-adjacent piece of news involving three-wheeled vehicles and the Taliban. It’s worth noting here that DeLorean Motor Company is suing Ty DeLorean, the guy behind the aforementioned three-wheeled cars, for copyright infringement.

There’s certainly plenty of activity on the DeLorean front these days. Whether that will translate into a mass-produced, all-electric DMC-12 in the near term remains to be seen.

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