That's my bet. After all, you wouldn't build a time machine in a vehicle that wasn't capable of hitting the necessary speed. David Heykants, a hot rod builder in Red Deer, Alberta, would have taken that detail into account while designing his DeLorean Back to the Future golf cart.
Lucas Evanochko made the electronic components. As you can see, his time selector is a touchscreen--a far more modern interface than that which was available in 1985. In addition to lights, Evanochko rigged a sound effects push button panel into the cockpit. You can watch a complete walk-through here.
-via Technabob