Owners of the new Fiat 500 will be able to earn rewards for economical driving thanks to an app that scores their driving style out of 100.
Stellantis - the car giant that owns Fiat and its sister brands - says the scheme will be available via the Fiat app, thanks to an agreement with British start-up Kiri Technologies.
By driving efficiently, owners will earn an ‘Eco:Score’ for each journey, with one kilometre of city driving roughly equal to two euro cents. Stellantis says that an annual mileage of 10,000km per year could be worth up to €150 (£130 approx), with the funds paid into a virtual wallet in the form of a digital coin called ‘KiriCoin’.
“We want to support our customers’ environmentally friendly behaviours and reward them with exclusive benefits,” explained Gabriele Catacchio, programme manager for Stellantis’s e-Mobility venture. “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.”
Stellantis has yet to outline exactly what will feature in this marketplace, but drivers who achieve the best scores in Europe will earn extra vouchers to be spent with the likes of Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, Apple and e-commerce company Zalando.
In the future it is hoped that drivers will be able to spend their KiriCoins on anything from renewable energy to organic groceries, with the goal of the system to incentivise sustainable lifestyles.
Stellantis claims that the ability to earn a digital coin by driving, the exclusive marketplace to spend those funds and the extra rewards for the highest-scoring drivers are all world firsts.
Kiri Technologies “grasped our attention with a very simple, innovative idea,” said Cristiano Fiorio, responsible for Stellantis’s brand marketing communications in Europe, “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.”
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So I'd be allowing FIAT & a third party track all my movements for £10 per month, which could only be spent at very limited places? Where do I sign up!