The Nissan Leaf is no stranger to videogames. Last year, we had a little race between a Leaf and the Toyota Prius--albeit in the realistic but completely virtual world of Gran Turismo 5.
But what you can't do in Gran Turismo is virtually charge your virtual Leaf with virtual solar panels--something recently introduced to the popular SimCity series of games.
SimCity is one of the longest-running series of games, having started back in 1989.
It allows players to build and run a virtual city, and in the old games at least, chuck in the odd nuclear meltdown or Godzilla to make life difficult for your virtual citizens.
The solar-powered Nissan charging stations are a little more sensible than that, letting a row of little Leafs charge up as they zip around the city.
Installing buildings and objects in SimCity games has always had an impact on the world around it--schools improve your citizens' education, parks and fountains make them happy, forgetting to install police stations leads to an increase in crime.
The Leaf solar charging station does little different--improving the happiness of nearby businesses, happiness to the Sims who use it, and producing no sewage or garbage for your city's trash collectors to deal with.
If only the real world could be so pleasant...
[Hat tip: Brad Horton]
______________________________________________
