So, after a good bit of research and searching earlier today I bought a BEV (battery electric vehicle) to use as the donor to convert my 1983 DeLorean to electric drive: a wrecked and rolled 2024 Volkswagen iD.4 S with under 12,000 miles on it.
After auction fees and delivery (to Indy-Guy's place nearby, I won't be able to pick it up due to space issues until after Memorial Day) it cost just over $5k- not too shabby for a vehicle that was likely bought new for about 8x that not much more than a year ago.
IAA's 'Vehicle Score' for it was a whopping 3/50- with anything under 10 being deemed 'unrepairable' and with major damage. Which I can't really argue with- if you were looking to repair the SUV and try and get it back onto the road, you'd likely be soundly SOL as it looks like it was rolled and there's a decent chance some of the upper pillars are compromised.
If you're me though, and your interest is in pulling the electric drive system (this one is a RWD-only, so the front end damage isn't much of a concern) and battery (located under the cabin), it's pretty much perfect.
The idea will be to pull the motor/gearbox/inverter, battery, charger, DC/DC converter, HVAC (hopefully the compressor wasn't damaged, but that can be replaced), steering... heck, pretty much everything (wiring included) that will be needed to transplant everything in to the DeLorean to convert it to electric drive and take advantage of as much of the advanced capabilities of the newer car (like regen braking) as possible.
This thread will be more for documenting tearing down the iD.4 vs. the adaptation of the parts to go ito the DMC. Unfortunately, that won't really be able to start for about another month and a half since I won't have the space for the iD.4 here at my place until then so until then it will be staying out with Indy-Guy. I'm planning on using this as a place to put any useful info that I find as well.
Some more pictures from the auction site:
I was curious when I was trying to figure out if I should buy it or not and I tracked it own- apparently the Error: Keyless System it's showing pops up when there's a problem with the antenna for the keyless entry sytem. No clue what could have happened to cause a problem with the antenna though... 
an EV delorean?! Count me following.
I'm excited to see how this goes. An electric Deloren sounds awesome.
Electric DeLorean? This has been done before, you know...
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:
Electric DeLorean? This has been done before, you know...
The nuclear reactor/lightning bolt/Mr. Fusion just powered the Flux Capacitor- the car itself (even when hover-converted, somehow...) always ran on gasoline. :P
But yes- there have been at least 10 (likely more) EV-converted DMCs over the years, including DMC-H (the 'official' DMC) showing off an electric conversion of their own (which, like about a half-dozen other variants/updates/new models they've teased and promoted, was never actually sold) and a recently-promoted conversion kit by Electrogenic that will set you back more than more new EVs. Given the car's anemic original 135hp PRV powerplant there have been loooots of different engine swaps done over the years, and I expect there will be a good number more electric ones in the coming years.
Ashyukun (Robert) said:
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:
Electric DeLorean? This has been done before, you know...
The nuclear reactor/lightning bolt/Mr. Fusion just powered the Flux Capacitor- the car itself (even when hover-converted, somehow...) always ran on gasoline. :P
There was no gasoline available in the Old West in 1885. Remember he also built a time machine out of a steam locomotive. 
Looking forward to both the tear down and the build!
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:
Ashyukun (Robert) said:
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:
Electric DeLorean? This has been done before, you know...
The nuclear reactor/lightning bolt/Mr. Fusion just powered the Flux Capacitor- the car itself (even when hover-converted, somehow...) always ran on gasoline. :P
There was no gasoline available in the Old West in 1885. Remember he also built a time machine out of a steam locomotive.
I still maintain that Doc not building an electric motor in Part III was a massive plot hole. You have a fusion generator with a peak power output equal to half the turbines in Hoover Dam. You can't siphon off 100 kw for a traction motor? That's like 1/12,100 of the Mr. Fusion's output.
MadScientistMatt said:
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:
Ashyukun (Robert) said:
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:
Electric DeLorean? This has been done before, you know...
The nuclear reactor/lightning bolt/Mr. Fusion just powered the Flux Capacitor- the car itself (even when hover-converted, somehow...) always ran on gasoline. :P
There was no gasoline available in the Old West in 1885. Remember he also built a time machine out of a steam locomotive.
I still maintain that Doc not building an electric motor in Part III was a massive plot hole. You have a fusion generator with a peak power output equal to half the turbines in Hoover Dam. You can't siphon off 100 kw for a traction motor? That's like 1/12,100 of the Mr. Fusion's output.
I think that the 'reason' for not doing so (or refining gasoline/ethanol) was that they were on a deadline: they wanted to be gone before either one of them could be killed by Buford. Yes, once Marty took him out and the picture erased that wasn't as pressing- but they were already set up for leaving (and didn't want to further change the timeline- though of course Doc staying obviously would have) and it was good for the plot. :p
So, I've got about a month (OK, 5 weeks or so) until I'll be able to get the iD.4 here to start actually doing things with it. But there's a lot that will be useful to gather ahead of time and to learn before then.
First, I've been tracking what I can find in the way of repair manuals and wiring diagrams for the VW- since my intent is to follow in the vein of Bill Carson's DMC conversion using a Bolt and move as much over as possible from the VW to the DMC, I'm going to need to a) know what is what and what goes where and b) be able to get the iD.4's computer brains thinking that everything is all peachy despite it missing a number of things- including (at least initially...) ALL of the airbags.
Thanks to Bill's videos I learned how to deal with the airbags: a SRS Simulator. Looking into it- this is just a resistor in a box with pins to match up with the airbag connector. The resistance needed seems to vary- and it's quite possible that the iD.4 will have dual-stage airbags so will be a bit more complex- but I'm pretty certain that I can get a resistor (heck, I'm 95% certain I've got a bunch sitting in my garage) and 3D print a simple enclosure for less than the $1.50 or so they seem to go for.
IMPORTANT SAFETY/LEGALITY NOTE: Pretty much everywhere that I know of, it's illegal to drive a vehicle that came equipped with airbags without them. And that's ignoring the fact that they DO save lives. However, the DMC (having been designed in the late 70's and build in 1982) did not come with airbags- so it's not going to be any less safe from not having them when I fold in all of the iD.4 tech. That said- if I can work out how to get the sensors working properly such that I can get the steering wheel airbag functional on the DMC? I'll absolutely take the additional safety when driving it.
slefain
UltimaDork
4/23/25 5:11 p.m.
Awesome project!
Please make sure to read up on safe handling of the iD.4 high-voltage electrical system. The main battery probably still has a charge, so until you get it disconnected treat anything orange like a live wire. Arc flash is a hell of a way to get a tan.
In reply to slefain :
Thanks! Oh, yes- I'm planning on being very careful around any of the HV stuff. I've done enough electrical work on houses over the years to know to be wary of 110 line voltage, so I'm damn well going to be extra careful around the HV of an EV! Which reminds me, I need to add some insulated lineman's gloves to my list of things to pick up for extra safety.
So if you use the gasoline motor to get the DeLorean up to speed and electricity for the time travel hardware does that make it a hybrid?
The flying Locomotive at the end was very Steampunk.
So I've been watching through some of the new owner educational videos VW has up on their site for the iD.4- and there's some interesting stuff in there. I have my serious doubt that I'm going to be able to keep much of the driver assist stuff (though depending on how some of it is set up I may be able to keep some of the sensor/alert stuff).
I am however hoping to be able to find a way to keep/adapt the 'ID.Light'. Hopefully a) it wasn't too damaged in the accident (or I can find a replacement) and b) I can fit it properly into the DMC because it looks fun.
I'm also kind of sad that the side mirrors on the iD.4 both look to be shot- they actually look like they'd look about right on the DMC (with appropriate-color covers).
I also wish I didn't know that it was essentially impossible to replace the 3D model of the iD.4 on the dashboard with one of the DMC... but the 'dashboard' does look like it might fit well into the DMC. It looks like it's pretty integrated into the steering column, which may actually work well since (like the Bolt conversion) it would be nice to be able to use the iD.4's steering column (and thus power steering) in the DMC. It may get tricky though since the iD.4's rack looks to have a position sensor (not surprising given the driver assist functions...) that, of course, the DMC's won't have.
The Eagle has landed at it's temporary resting spot on its migration South:
Sweet! Thank you again so very much! I really wish I didn't have to wait do long to bring it the rest of the way here, I'm itching to get to playing with it.
The auction house's pictures of it didn't really do justice to showing how badly the top of it fared in the accident/rollover- from them it looked like the frame at the top of the windshield wasn't that badly damaged, but from your picture of the interior it looks well and truly toasted. Which is fine with me- I don't care about the upper third or so of it for the most part- but I'm guessing it was a large part of why they had so low of a condition score on it and why I got it so cheap.
I think the interior shot shows a bunch of laminated glass drooping down after coming loose. The frame doesn't look so bad in the exterior shot as that interior shot makes it look.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
True- but it's still clear that the top of the thing would pretty much have to be cut off and a new one welded in if the plan (which it of course is not) were to try and put it back on the road.
Posting this here, because I think I'm gonna need it tonight:
Agreed. Either that or do what my wife did to the rolled Ranger that was her first car - put a jack under that windshield frame and push it back into shape :) I expect that was a lot easier in an old Ranger than a modern car...
In reply to Indy - Guy :
Be really, really careful checking that none of the HV wiring is compromised. Jumping it may cause some issues, and I would park it away from things that can't be flambed for a few days to be sure nothing nasty comes out. I've dealt with a lot of lithium cells, and they are not fond of being thrashed.
That said, I'm super excited for this build and happy to help you (Ashyukun (Robert)) learn about any BMS or cells issues. I have a connection with a VW dealer that may be handy...
In reply to bbbbRASS :
When they took the pictures for the auction back at the end of January it was powering on and showing the charge level for the HV battery, so my hope would be that they hadn't damaged anything further in transporting it that would have compromised it. I'm kind of surprised that it doesn't have power- though I suppose that it's possible that they unhooked the 12V battery before transporting it.
Thanks, I'll probably need some help with the battery stuff along the line. My hope is that the battery modules weren't damaged in the crash even if the battery structure overall may have taken a bit of a hit- but I'm going to have to take it completely apart anyway to reconfigure the battery to fit into the DMC.
I was actually thinking a bit about the battery locations for the DMC a bit earlier... that's something more appropriate for the DMC thread though.
