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BMW M850i Coupe, Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and a 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser | Autoblog Podcast #585

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor Alex Kierstein and Senior Editor, Green, John Snyder. This week, they talk about driving the BMW 8 Series Coupe, Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and Toyota Corolla Hatchback. Then they talk about the news, including electric Hummer rumors and Tesla pickup timing. Finally, they consider whether or not Greg should buy his neighbor's 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser. Autoblog Podcast #585 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving: BMW M850i xDrive Coupe Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Toyota Corolla Hatchback In the news: Is an all-electric Hummer in the works? Tesla pickup truck is on its way Spend My Money: 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

Recharge Wrap-up: Shell stops AK ocean drilling, Lego Tesla Model S

Shell says it will halt exploratory drilling near Alaska's coast. While the oil giant has found some oil and gas below the waters, the amount it is finding is not worth the high costs of drilling. Shell also cites "the challenging and unpredictable federal regulatory environment in offshore Alaska" as part of its decision to move on from drilling in the Chukchi Sea, but it is possible public protests had an impact, too. Read more at Treehugger, and in the press release from Shell below. The University of Central Florida's Electric Vehicle Transportation Center will host the EV Transportation and Technology Summit from October 20 to 22 in Cocoa, Florida. The summit is geared toward businesses and organizations with the goals of increasing EV awareness, reviewing current and near future technology, and pointing out deployment achievements and challenges. While its coverage will be more general, the event will focus especially on planning and infrastructure requirements. Learn more at Hybrid Cars, or at the event website. The Tesla Model S still looks good when scaled down for a Lego minifig. A man named Cole Edmonson created a tiny brick version of the iconic EV, and managed to retain the car's distinguishing good looks. Edmonson provides a write-up detailing the process of creating the small, plastic Tesla copy. It's considerably more complicated than one would think. Check out the whole process at Brick Replicas, and read more from The Brothers Brick. Renault and Donfeng will build an electric car in China based on the Fluence ZE. The joint venture between the two automakers - called Dongfeng Renault Automotive Company (DRAC) - will produce the car in its Wuhan plant in 2017. The car will be sold solely in the Chinese market under a local Dongfeng brand. "This EV agreement illustrates Renault's engagement as partner of COP 21," says DRAC CEO Jacques Daniel. Read more at Green Car Congress, or in the press release below. Dongfeng and Renault agree to produce electric vehicles in China On the occasion of the visit of ZHU Yangfeng, Chairman of Dongfeng Group, at the Renault R&D center, Dongfeng Renault Automotive Company (DRAC) announces the production of its first electric vehicle in China. As part of the Joint Venture between Dongfeng and Renault, DRAC will produce an electric vehicle that is based on the Fluence Z.E.

The Tesla Model S was the best-selling EV of 2015

According to numbers crunched over at Hybrid Cars, the Tesla Model S was the best selling pure electric vehicle last year with 50,366 deliveries. These numbers might not tell the whole story, since Tesla reports deliveries made in 2015 that might have been sold in a different calendar year, while other makers are tallying sales. However, it's inarguable that the Model S ended up in more worldwide driveways than the second-place Nissan Leaf, which did about 43,000 sales. In the US alone, Leaf sales were down 42.8 percent year-on-year, from 30,200 in 2014 to 17,269 last year, and that decline also increased throughout the year. That marks a great finish to a great start to 2015, when Tesla took the lead in EV sales in the US for the first quarter. On top of that, as of last year the Model S becomes the second-best selling EV ever, with 107,148 deliveries since the middle of 2012. It trails the Nissan Leaf, with well over 200,000 worldwide sales. The Chevrolet Volt/Opel Ampera combo takes a close third, with about 106,000 sales. The Nissan and Chevy rivals both launched at the end of 2010, a 16-month head start on the Tesla. Down the charts, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV which continues to be forbidden fruit for our market notched 39,000 sales. The BYD Qin PHEV sold 31,898 examples in China, and BYD would take the overall victory from Tesla with 58,728 deliveries if you counted all of its EV and PHEV production, such as its electric buses. The BMW i3 nabbed fourth place with 24,057 global sales. In 2011 the Munich automaker said it wanted to sell 30,000 i3s annually by 2014, but by the time the car launched the company considered 15,000 annual sales 'great for now,' so the 2015 number seems a fine place to wind up. Related Video: News Source: Hybrid Cars Green BMW Chevrolet Mitsubishi Nissan Tesla