Original answer was filled in rapidly on the way to a Dr. appointment. It's been expanded to show how I believe the book(s) fit the question. Apologies.

With the dismissal of the other races, including elves as "funny looking humans" this is sounding real close. I just might have to read this one to see.

@Jontia Kim Stanley Robinson's Thousand Years of Rice and Salt (written in 2002), is one I haven't read, though with the intervening years, and books, a minor mix up in story elements is very possible.

@Valorum Further evidence that the Delorean was purely a stylistic choice, and that the tow truck could have worked. BTW, never new a hot-air balloon could reach 88 MPH!

@sueelleker A short perusal of descriptions of, and samples from, the first few books in the series (the rest were after the time I read this book) do seem promising, and probably a good read nonetheless. If the Wikipedia page for the Deverry Cycle is correct about six sapient species in all the books, then it's out. Otherwise, even the Amazon description of Daggerspell sounds promising. I only read one book, and the full history of Deverry might not be in book one.

@Valorum I never claimed a locomotive was a tow truck. The evidence that he used a locomotive as a time machine supports that he could have used anything he chose to, including his tow truck. A locomotive is mostly cast iron rather than steel, and definitely not stainless steel like the Delorean. Metal itself might have been significant, possibly even ferrous metal such as iron. The choice of the Delorean, however, was mostly style, as he claimed, not necessity.

Was the main character (time traveler) male or female? Can you remember any of the "adventures" that happened? Do you recall how the time travel happened?

Do you recall the apocalyptic event that created the world?

What I'm thinking of is more a religious overtone in some of the characters. IIRC they start somewhere near Greenville NC, and move,over time, west to Deseret