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Photo: DeLorean Motor Company.

DeLorean Motor Company, the firm based in Humble, Texas, that currently owns the fabled DeLorean DMC automotive brand, stated this week that a final rule document released January 15 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) brings their promised production of a new DeLorean vehicle a big step closer to reality.

However, the automaker also noted that the new DeLorean may be built with an electric rather than an internal combustion powertrain.

The regulation, an outgrowth of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (a.k.a. The FAST Act), signed into law by President Obama in 2015, allows exemption from certain federal motor vehicle safety standards for low-volume manufacturers of replica vehicles.

“Low volume” is defined as production of up to 325 units, and the replicas must resemble conventionally manufactured vehicles from more than 25 years ago.

SEMA (the Specialty Equipment Market Association), an aftermarket automotive equipment trade group that has lobbied tirelessly for this regulation for years, applauded the final ruling this week.

“The roadblocks have been eliminated,” said SEMA President and CEO Christopher J. Kersting, in a statement. “Companies will be able to hire workers, start making necessary parts and components, and produce and sell cars.”

In a January 20 blog post, the DeLorean Motor Company, which acquired rights to the brand as well as unsold parts inventory from the original DeLorean automaker in 1995, reacted with a similar level of enthusiasm about the impact of the final ruling on making the dream of building new DeLoreans a reality, stating that “Companies like DeLorean will now be able to apply for authorization to produce and sell vehicles under this program.”

According to Road and Track, the company’s original plan was to sell a modest number of new DeLorean vehicles—about 50 per year—at a price of around $100,000.

However, in a disclosure that may irk some of the more traditionally minded DeLorean enthusiasts, the company also noted that “we’ve been considering switching to an all-electric as the future,” citing concerns about their ability to maintain emissions compliance with an internal-combustion platform for vehicles that they had originally planned to begin building in 2017.

How the market may react to the idea of an electric DeLorean seems tough to predict, although the idea of finding 50 customers per year for a limited-production vehicle does not, intuitively, seem daunting.

In fact, an electric powertrain may be a no-brainer way to breathe new excitement into a vehicle that, in its original incarnation, was notoriously underpowered.

A strong electric motor might be just what the DeLorean needs to finally deliver performance that matches the sleek lines and stainless-steel finish of the exterior.

About The Author

Bill Hayward

Bill Hayward, a writer, marketer, and car enthusiast, is editor and publisher of AutoNewsblaster. Originally a native of the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., he currently resides in South Central Pennsylvania. Contact: auto.enthusiasts.news@gmail.com or 717-968-0883.

1977 Chevrolet K5 Blazer electric crate motor conversion. — **The Chevrolet Performance 1997 K5 Blazer electric crate motor build, set for reveal at SEMA360. Photo: Chevrolet Pressroom.**

With all the excitement surrounding the return of the Ford Bronco, clearly there is plenty of market interest in retro SUVs. And given the promise of the electric crate motor concept as a near-bolt-on solution to give a new jolt of life and relevance to vintage vehicles that are sitting around in barns with non-running engines, Chevrolet’s choice of a K5 Blazer to showcase their forthcoming Electric Connect and Cruise eCrate package at SEMA360 is an unsurprising move.

But here’s what is surprising: in an environment of EV hype centered around sky-high horsepower and torque stats and 0-60 acceleration in just a couple of seconds, are we really supposed to be impressed with an electric crate motor that produces just 200 horsepower and 266 pound feet of torque?

Yes, you read that right. Although GM does say that they are “evaluating additional eCrate packages with higher-performance options,” those are the horsepower and torque figures cited in their press release on the K5 Blazer build ahead of SEMA360, the all-virtual 2020 answer to the elbow-to-elbow-packed live SEMA Show that, in normal years, takes place annually at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Sure, endlessly boasting about horsepower and torque escalations has become a cliché at SEMA, where, for example, you can perennially expect Mopar to stage a noisy reveal of their latest over-1,000-horsepower hell-something gas crate engine.

But it’s hard to imagine that 200 horsepower won’t seem pretty limp to the SEMA crowd, especially considering that the 1977 K5 Blazer, in its original gas-powered configuration, weighed close to 3,700 pounds.

Nevertheless, the very existence of GM’s electric crate motor program is, in principle, an exciting development for those who like the idea of a modern, clean solution for breathing new life and relevance into cool old cars and trucks.

According to Chevrolet, the show build for SEMA360, which they have dubbed the K5 Blazer E, preserves as much of the stock vintage Blazer as possible, connecting an electric motor and 400-volt battery pack from the Chevrolet Bolt EV while leaving the rest of the original K5 Blazer drivetrain untouched, including the transfer case, driveshaft, and axles.

The vehicle’s original fuel gauge becomes the state-of-charge display for the battery—a nice touch that, if it becomes standard across GM electric crate motor conversions, will support preservation or original instrument panels as one of the more important elements of the retro vibe of a vintage vehicle’s interior.

Vintage K5 Blazer instrument panel in the Chevrolet Performance electric crate motor conversion for SEMA360 — The Chevrolet Performance electric crate motor build preserve’s the K5 Blazer’s vintage instrument panel—including the fuel gauge, which becomes the state-of-charge monitor for the EV battery pack. Photo: Chevrolet Pressroom.

While the press releases on the K5 Blazer EV build and on the Connect and Cruise package do not specify a cruising range—which would obviously vary depending on what vehicle a buyer retrofits—we can perhaps anticipate a rough frame of reference from the 259-mile range expected, according to GM authority, for the 2021 Chevy Bolt.

Although one could probably expect less range than that in a larger vehicle like a K5 Blazer, range gains are certainly reasonable to expect with time, especially as GM looks ahead toward integrating more advanced technologies like their Ultium battery system into their electric crate motor packages, which GM estimates could achieve ranges of 400 miles or more.

Meanwhile, if the K5 Blazer EV build is already making visions dance in your head like electrified Christmas sugarplums of bringing beloved vintage Chevys, Pontiacs, Buicks, Oldsmobiles, or GMCs a new charge of life in an increasingly electrified automotive world, GM says you can expect the Electric Connect and Cruise crate motor package to be available in the second half of 2021.

Tag: Vintage&Classic

Regulatory ruling brings new DeLorean closer to reality, current brand owner says—but the reincarnated 80s classic may go electric