A new partnership between Fiat and tech start-up Kiri Technologies gives owners of the new electric Fiat 500 the chance to earn cryptocurrency as a reward for driving more efficiently.
The collaboration was originally announced this time last year.
Drivers will receive KiriCoins for their efficient driving style, which can be exchanged with vouchers for services such as Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Spotify.
Installed in the new 500 is an eco score function that ranks the efficiency of a user's driving style from 0 to 100. Higher levels of efficiency lead to more KiriCoins and rewards.
The first-of-its-kind collaboration with Kiri Technologies means that, based on the average yearly mileage of 6,200 miles, drivers could collect around £125 worth of KiriCoins.
This could pay for 18 months of Netflix or 12 months of Spotify subscriptions, says Fiat.
Driving data such as speed and distance travelled is collected and uploaded to the Kiri cloud. Users can then download these tokens to their smartphones to purchase products from the Kiri marketplace.
Fiat also looked at how drivers were making annual savings by using the eco score function. Customers that obtained the top 100 eco scores were able to conserve battery range and subsequent charging costs by 20%.
Based on the average cost of charging a New 500, the efficiencies in driving style enabled owners to save around £50 on home charging costs, rising to approximately £70 on public rapid charging a year.
“We are delighted to partner with Kiri Technologies as it has enabled us to achieve a world-first in becoming the first automotive manufacturer to reward our customers with KiriCoin by simply jumping behind the wheel of their New 500,” said Greg Taylor, Fiat country manager.
“We feel this innovative service offering further cements the New 500’s place at the forefront of sustainable mobility, incentivising our drivers to adopt an efficient and responsible driving style which is not only respectful to the environment but also enables them to fully enhance the efficiencies of the New 500 with regards to battery life and charging costs.”