A high-tech electrical version of the DeLorean car is to be unveiled in Belfast to mark the 30th anniversary of Back To The Future.
Queen’s University Belfast will reveal its electric DeLorean on Wednesday. October 21, 2015 is the date that Marty McFly and Doc Brown arrive in the future in the second of the film series, and it has been dubbed “Back to the Future Day” by fans who intend to celebrate it.
“This was about modifying a car into an electric vehicle, but we wanted to do it in style. The DeLorean was the obvious choice because of its strong connection to Belfast and its starring role in the Back To The Future movies,” Dr David Laverty, who leads the project, said.
He said in the future more energy would come from renewable electricity.
“The electrification of transport is a major global challenge, so projects like the Queen’s electric DeLorean are crucial in equipping young engineers with the knowledge and expertise to build the electric vehicles of the future,” he added.
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When Back To The Future appeared in cinemas in 1985, it raked in millions of dollars in ticket sales, became the highest-grossing film of the year and landed a sound effects editing Academy Award and three more nominations.
The DeLorean DMC-12 became part of Hollywood history thanks to its use as the time machine in the films starring Michael J Fox as Marty McFly, and Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown. Even former US president Ronald Reagan quoted the film in his speeches.
The first movie appeared three years after the closure of the original DeLorean factory in Belfast. Fewer than 9,000 cars had rolled off the production line at the Dunmurry plant.
“Our DeLorean was in a poor state of repair when we took ownership in January 2014, and since then our students have worked with experts within Queen’s electrical energy laboratory — one of the few university facilities in the UK dedicated to teaching and researching electrical generators and motors — to develop the car’s high-tech electric engine,” Dr Lavery said.