If Nissan has its way, you might not need to pay for a parking spot if your electric car has some range to spare. Autoblog notes that the automaker has opened an exhibition space in Yokohama, the Pavilion, that lets you pay for parking by sending electricity from the Leaf and other EVs into the building. You won’t have to worry about the cost of trip (beyond whatever it costs to recharge elsewhere, of course) if you’re determined to see the Ariya crossover or get a taste of Formula E racing.

It’s meant as a demonstration of Nissan’s Energy Share and electricity storage technologies, such as the use of Leaf cars to power homes and city infrastructure during disasters. The exhibition, which also highlights connected car and semi-autonomous driving tech, is open until October 23rd.

Nissan

Inside, designers claim this crossover is more like a lounge than a traditional vehicle cabin. It has a voice recognition system to control the features, and supports over-the-air updates. Tech features range from its ProPilot 2.0 driver assists to integration with smart home technology, built-in Amazon Alexa and, of course, support for wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

According to Nissan’s press materials, the Ariya will go on sale in Japan in mid-2021, with debuts in the US and Canada later next year.

The $699 per month entry-level “Select” plan gives you access to four cars — the Altima, Rogue, Pathfinder and Frontier. For $200 more every month, you can upgrade to the Premium plan, which includes six additional vehicles — the Leaf Plus, Maxima, Murano, Armada, Titan and 370Z. If you want to get really boughie and try out the GT-R, that’s an additional $100 per day, and you can use it only for a maximum of seven consecutive days. After a $495 activation fee, the subscription fee covers delivery, cleaning, insurance, roadside assistance and standard maintenance.

While $699 is a lot to pay to swap cars on a whim, Nissan Switch compares favorably to some of the other car subscription services out there. By no means is it cheap, but it is less expensive than Porsche’s Passport service, which starts at $2,100 per month. When Cadillac offered its Book service, it was $1,500 per month. In any case, it’s easy to see why automakers are so willing to try testing these types of services, even if they’re more expensive than most people can afford. It’s about creating a source of recurring revenue in a world where car ownership is on the decline and people are trying to get away from expensive commitments.

On top of that, every 2020 Leaf will have an eight-inch touchscreen. The Leaf Plus already had that, but the previous Leaf S and SV had five- and seven-inch touchscreens respectively. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will also be available as standard.

But those additions (along with others such as knee-level and side-impact airbags) have contributed to a price increase this year. Including the $925 destination fee, the Leaf S starts at $32,525, up $1,640 from the base 2019 model. The Leaf Plus had a slightly bigger price increase. It starts at $39,125, $1,680 more than last year.

The design also brings independent brake control, and there’s now regenerative rear braking that should prevent the car from pitching back and forth when you slow down.

We wouldn’t count on seeing a production version of this particular Leaf. However, the automaker isn’t shy about indicating that this represents technology coming to the “next generation of Nissan EVs.” A production version of the Ariya is a possibility (Nissan has reportedly shown that to dealers behind closed doors), but you could also see variants of this dual-motor tech in larger sedans, sports cars and other vehicles that might need more oomph to move quickly.

Much like the IMk “Kei” car, the Ariya has an illuminated “shield” (not a grill) that’s equipped with radar and other ProPilot 2.0 sensors. That new driver assistance system will even allow for “hands-off” driving in certain situations, Nissan said.

Under the hood (and trunk) there are dual electric front and rear motors with all-wheel torque splitting borrowed from the GT-R, though Nissan didn’t share horsepower or range figures. It doesn’t matter anyway, because no one’s likely to take this particular concept vehicle on a track.

The cool but impractical interior is likely to be significantly changed on a production car. As with other concept EVs we’ve seen, it’s more like a living room than vehicle cabin, with flat floors, a display-dominated dash and few physical controls. The leather and copper-accented cabin is meant to evoke traditional Japanese design.

Despite the far-out interior, Nissan said that the Ariya’s design could make it into production in the “near future.” According to Automotive News, Nissan actually showed the vehicle to dealers last month. Judging by that report, it has a 300-mile range and can hit 60 mph from a standstill in 5 seconds — not bad for a crossover.

Nissan’s connection to gaming might extend beyond the occasional car in a racing sim. The automaker has joined with FaZe Clan and OpTic Gaming to design a trio of “esports gaming chairs” themed around (what else?) some of its more iconic cars. The GT-R Nismo is a “performance” chair with a thin carbon fiber shell, a racing seat shape, Nismo leather and an audio system built into the headset. The Armada chair echoes the SUV with extra-comfy lumbar support, posh leather and its own climate control. A Leaf chair, meanwhile, mimics the EV with “eco-friendly” materials and a USB charging port.

For rice farmers, ducks have been a viable way to keep their crops healthy — they destroy weeds, eat bugs and fertilize crops without using harmful chemicals. And now, a Nissan technician might have an alternative when fowl isn’t an option. He’s testing a robot ‘duck’ that roams rice paddies, muddying the water to prevent weeds from getting enough sunlight to grow — it’s really a Roomba (and a cute one at that) for watery fields. Although it’s a personal project, it’s fully realized with GPS, a WiFi connection and solar power to minimize its environmental impact.

The prototype is based on Nissan’s e-NV200, a fully electric light commercial vehicle that has a range of up to 124 miles. The company installed two Nissan Energy ROAM power packs — which use lithium-ion cells recovered from first-generation Nissan electric vehicles — to power the coolers. Those can be charged along with the van, but there are rooftop solar panels for an added boost. Nissan also partnered with Mackie’s, a Scottish ice cream company that uses wind and solar power, making the product green from “sky to scoop.”

Nissan took the opportunity to mention that Nissan Energy ROAM will be available for sale later in 2019. The Nissan e-NV200, which is based on the LEAF architecture, is already available. There’s no word yet if Nissan will take its clean, EV ice cream truck beyond the prototype stage, but this isn’t the first time the company has gotten creative with the e-NV200. A few years ago, the company turned it into a mobile office, and there’s a chance we’ll see more one-off projects like this one.

We’re partnering with @Groupe_Renault & @Nissan on behalf of The Alliance to explore driverless mobility services for passengers and deliveries starting in France & Japan. More https://t.co/UZiOpAYScY pic.twitter.com/hIbmBurt89

— Waymo (@Waymo) June 20, 2019

Renault-Nissan Alliance business development chief Hadi Zablit said the companies will “develop a framework for deployment of mobility services at scale” under the initial agreement. They’ll move to the physical testing of any vehicle they create and the deployment of the services they conjure up at a later date.

The new partners see the team-up as the “first step to developing long-term, profitable driverless mobility services operations.” In fact, their activities in France and Japan could be just the beginning. If all goes well in Renault’s and Nissan’s home countries, they might expand the scope of their partnership to other markets in the future.