Emobility by Stellantis presents an innovative reward programme for drivers of Fiat’s New 500 electric car

Emobility by Stellantis announced a partnership with Kiri Technologies to reward drivers of the New 500 electric car from Fiat. The concept behind the project consists of rewarding New 500 customers for driving style by awarding them a cryptocurrency known as KiriCoins in a unique and innovative model for the automotive industry.

The partnership with Kiri enables Stellantis, who also owns Alpha, Chrysler and Jeep, to achieve three world firsts in the automotive industry. Firstly, the ability to collect a cryptocurrency simply by driving, secondly by giving access to an exclusive marketplace and finally providing extra rewards for the highest eco-scores.

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Fiat 500 Electric Car in City back street

Gabriele Catacchio, e-mobility programme manager, said: “We want to support our customers’ environmentally-friendly behaviours and reward them with exclusive benefits. Simply by driving the New 500, connected and equipped with the new infotainment system, KiriCoins can be collected in a ‘virtual’ wallet shown in the Fiat app.

“Driving data, such as distance and speed, is uploaded to the Kiri cloud and automatically converted into KiriCoins, using an algorithm devised by Kiri. The result is downloaded directly to the user’s smartphone and the KiriCoins can then be used to purchase products and services in the Kiri marketplace.”

Kiri is the Japanese name for Paulownia, the tree that absorbs 10 times more CO2 than any other plant. Just one hectare of this tree offsets around 30 tonnes of CO2 per year, the equivalent of the emissions produced by 30 cars running for the same period.

Fiat 500 Electric Car in foreground with Vintage car Fiat 500 in background

Cristiano Fiorio, brand marketing communication in Europe, said: “Talent Garden is a melting pot of new ideas, the realm of high-tech and digital professionals. This is where the e-mobility journey through innovation began and where we discovered Kiri Technologies.

“That grasped our attention with a very simple, innovative idea to reward the behaviours of people who respect the environment. Combining this idea with the features of the New 500, our flagship of technological innovation and electric mobility, came naturally to us.”

Kiri Technologies is a startup founded in the UK in 2020 by Mauro Di Benedetto, Luca Rubino and Kai Schildhauer. Their mission ‘Think Big. Act Green’ aims at stimulating change and accelerating the adoption of sustainable actions.

When driving normally in the city, one kilometre is more or less equivalent to one KiriCoin, with each KiriCoin worth two euro cents. Therefore, with a mileage of 62,000 miles (10,000km) per year in the city, the equivalent of around £129

(€150/$179) can be collected.

In future, the initiative could also be extended to reward sustainable behaviours in other sectors such as the purchase of renewable energy, organic groceries and products. The goal is to create a community of people using a loyalty programme that incentivises a sustainable lifestyle. The New 500 can therefore be considered the first step in this new system that rewards more sustainable actions.

Ian Osborne
Ian Osborne
Editor-in-Chief at ElectricDrives

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