Many items have been used as money, from naturally scarce precious metals and cowry shells through cigarettes to entirely artificial money, called fiat money, such as banknotes.
He sees precious metals like gold or silver as an insurance protection against a possilbe inflationary development or even a crash of the fiat money system.
Fiat describes the 500e's unique exterior design as retro-futuristic, and the vehicle is has a smartphone app that notifies the owner of vehicle status.