Vay secures €34M to bring remote-controlled cars to the streets of Europe

German “teledriving” startup Vay has secured €34mn from nan European Investment Bank (EIB).  

In January, Vay launched a commercial remote-controlled car service successful Las Vegas. Now it wants to rotation retired nan exertion connected its location turf.

In 2023, nan institution successfully conducted trial drives without a information driver connected nationalist roads successful Hamburg. Vay says it has been moving intimately pinch authorities to motorboat a commercialized work successful nan German city. 

“This finance will play a important domiciled successful strengthening nan assurance and spot that EU regulators, partners and consumers person successful Vay, paving nan measurement for nan commercialized rollout of our services successful European cities,” said Thomas von de Ohe, Vay’s CEO.  

When users unfastened nan Vay app and petition a ride, an electric vehicle comes to cod them. Just for illustration an Uber — isolated from there’s cipher successful nan car. 

Instead, it’s piloted to nan pick-up spot by a distant driver. The customer past takes nan instrumentality for nan travel to their destination. Once they depart, a teledriver takes power again.

Teledrivers power nan vehicles remotely from a purpose-built position equipped pinch a driver’s seat, steering wheel, pedals, and 3 monitors providing visibility successful beforehand of nan car and to its side.

Road postulation sounds, specified arsenic emergency vehicles and different informing signals, are transmitted via microphones to nan teledriver’s headphones. This usability could technically beryllium sitting connected nan different broadside of nan world. However, astir will beryllium adjacent astatine 1 of Vay’s teledriving centres. 

For customers, teledriving is billed arsenic a cheaper, much convenient replacement to accepted car-sharing. For operators, it could mean nan quality betwixt occurrence aliases failure.

“Remote driving tin summation profitability successful a assemblage known for good margins,” explained Justin Spratt, main business serviceman astatine Vay. The institution claims its exertion tin double nan magnitude of clip vehicles are successful use, boosting revenues.  

Teledriving is billed arsenic a midway constituent betwixt accepted cars and autonomous vehicles, which are proving overmuch much difficult to implement than operators had hoped for.

“Given caller challenges successful nan autonomy industry, automotive-grade teledriving tin connection an replacement way to safe ‘driverless’ transportation, arsenic a quality driver is ever successful control,” von de Ohe previously told TNW.

In December 2023, Vay raised $95mn (€87mn) successful a Series B round. The backing signals investor assurance successful a exertion that could connection a faster way to marketplace than afloat autonomous vehicles.