Stellantis, the automotive group that owns Fiat, announced a partnership with Kiri Technologies to reward drivers of the New 500 Electric.
The basic concept behind the project consists of rewarding New 500 Electric 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 to achieve three world firsts in the automotive industry. First, the ability to collect a cryptocurrency simply by driving; second, giving access to an exclusive marketplace; finally, providing extra rewards for the highest eco:Scores.
Aboard the New 500 Electric, Gabriele Catacchio, e-Mobility program 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 tons of CO2 per year, the equivalent of the emissions produced by 30 cars running for the same period.
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 Electric, 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 – with the mission, ‘Think Big. Act Green’, Kiri 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 mileage of 10,000km per year in the city, the equivalent of around €150 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, by means of a loyalty program that incentivises a sustainable lifestyle. The New 500 can therefore be considered the first step in this new system that does not reward purchases but instead rewards more sustainable actions.
Giorgio Neri, New 500 commercial launch manager & Fiat e-Mobility manager, said: “To support a program as innovative and ambitious as Kiri, a car like the New 500 really was needed. An object with cult status, a connected icon that has become a mobility project to reward its customers with a cryptocurrency, to be spent in a dedicated marketplace made up of companies from the fashion, accessories and design industries, all of whom have a fervent belief in sustainability.”
To further incentivise the use of the New 500 Electric, extra rewards are offered to the drivers who achieve the highest eco:Score, a Uconnect Services feature marking the efficiency of their driving style from 0 to 100, to help improve energy consumption in real time. Customers with the highest scores in major European countries will receive access to extra offers from major partners such as Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Spotify Premium and Zalando.
