I saw this story on Wired and had to laugh.  Then I thought, “wow, that’s a game I haven’t played in a long time.  Looks like they’ve improved it.”  Then I wondered how a car is supposed to work into the Sims universe.  Then I wondered if you had to plug in the new EV, if it would run out of juice in the middle of the street and cost you towing fees, and whether your dog could get electrocuted if it chews through the plug-in wire.

Then its ghost would haunt your house.

At least, it would in Sims 2.  That’s the one I played.  Plus Sims Online.  I can’t help myself, I’m a geek.

Anyway, Renault has teamed up with Electronic Arts (the maker of The Sims) and will be putting out an Electric Vehicle Pack expansion for the game.  The car is a Twizy Z.E. which was a concept and which Renault has said they’ll be taking to production in the next couple of years.  As you can see, it’s not exactly “normal” in its design.

It seats two, Apache-pilot-style, one behind the other and gets a bunch of range (in the game, this could be anything).

Anyway, I thought it was both funny and interesting at the same time that things like this are beginning to take hold in popular venues like The Sims.  Note that the house is a “green design” – based off the LEED Gold home in California, from the looks of it.

It appears that things have changed since I played the game.  I remember building a concrete bunker complete with bank vault door.  Then I added an outbuilding so it could be rightly called a “compound.”  It was awesome.

Related posts:

1. Renault FRENDZY – It’s What Happens When Pretention Gets the Better of a Car Company
2. The Center for Automotive Research Estimates Distribution Pattern of Electric Vehicles Through 2015

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