{"id":660780,"date":"2025-04-04T21:40:32","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T18:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/we-rode-a-remote-driven-ev-through-berlin-is-this-the-future-of-car-sharing\/"},"modified":"2025-04-04T21:40:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T18:40:32","slug":"we-rode-a-remote-driven-ev-through-berlin-is-this-the-future-of-car-sharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/we-rode-a-remote-driven-ev-through-berlin-is-this-the-future-of-car-sharing\/","title":{"rendered":"We rode a remote-driven EV through Berlin. Is this the future of car sharing?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28a3ab818bc\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28a3ab818bc\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/we-rode-a-remote-driven-ev-through-berlin-is-this-the-future-of-car-sharing\/#The_future_of_car_sharing\" >The future of car sharing?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHello, I will be your driver for today,\u201d says Bartek Szurgot, a software engineer at German startup Vay and my chauffeur for this ride. He disengages the handbrake, gently presses the accelerator and the new Kia Niro EV I\u2019m sitting in slowly pulls out of the parking lot.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach the first intersection, Bartek indicates, turns the steering wheel, makes his observations, and drives out onto a busy road near the centre of Berlin. So far, pretty standard <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 except for one big difference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bartek isn\u2019t in the car. He\u2019s in an office a few blocks away, controlling the vehicle like a high-tech puppeteer.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"resp-video-container\"><iframe title=\"Vay\u2019s Remote Driving technology\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" srcdoc=\"&lt;style&gt;*{padding:0;margin:0;overflow:hidden}html,body{background:#000;height:100%}img{position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;transition:opacity .1s cubic-bezier(0.4,0,1,1)}a:hover img+img{opacity:1!important}&lt;\/style&gt;&lt;a href=\" https:=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/N9nDMvLpcoI\/hqdefault.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/themes\/cyberdelia\/assets\/img\/ytplaybtn.png\" style=\"top: 50%;left:50%;width:68px;height:48px;transform:translate3d(-50%,-50%,0)\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/themes\/cyberdelia\/assets\/img\/ytplaybtn-hover.png\" style=\"top: 50%;left:50%;width:68px;height:48px;opacity:0;transform:translate3d(-50%,-50%,0)\"\/>&#8221; frameborder=&#8221;0&#8243; allow=&#8221;accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share&#8221; referrerpolicy=&#8221;strict-origin-when-cross-origin&#8221; allowfullscreen&gt;<\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remote operators like <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bartek <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">command Vay\u2019s cars <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">from a video <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>-style <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">station equipped with a driver\u2019s seat, steering wheel, pedals, and three monitors providing visibility in front of the car and to its side.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper channel-cta\">\n<div class=\"ica-text\">\n<p class=\"ica-text__title\">TNW Conference &#8211; The 2025 Agenda has just touched down<\/p>\n<p>Discover the insightful and dare we say controversial sessions that will take place June 19-20.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Road traffic sounds, such as emergency vehicle sirens and other warning signals, are transmitted via microphones to the teledriver\u2019s headphones. Operators could be sitting on the other side of the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vay has developed a proprietary hardware and software system called \u201cdrive-by-wire\u201d that communicates with the car\u2019s key controls, including the steering wheel, brake, and gear shifter. Electrical signals transmitted from the remote operating station tell the system what to do, enabling the car to mirror the remote driver\u2019s actions in real time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.auvik.com\/franklyit\/blog\/simple-network-redundancy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Redundant mobile networks<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> transmit the data. In the event of a network failure or emergency, the vehicle automatically comes to a safe stop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vay\u2019s remote drivers spend most of their time delivering vehicles to customers, who hail the cars on an app. After the car arrives, users take the wheel and drive themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1412893 js-lazy\" alt=\"A Vay teledriver holding a steering wheel and watching the car drive on a screen\" width=\"1640\" height=\"1093\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2025\/04\/DSCF4774.jpg\"\/><figcaption>Teledrivers control the cars from remote locations. Credit: Si\u00f4n Geschwindt<\/figcaption><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1412893\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2025\/04\/DSCF4774.jpg\" alt=\"A Vay teledriver holding a steering wheel and watching the car drive on a screen\" width=\"1640\" height=\"1093\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Customers can use the car for a short <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>, hours, days, or even longer. Once they\u2019re done, they stop the car safely in the road, apply the handbrake, get out, and carry on with their day. Then, a remote operator takes over again and drives on to the next client.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As anyone familiar with autonomous vehicles will know, watching a car drive itself takes some getting used to. Knowing that my \u201cdriver\u201d was blocks away, steering through screens and sensors, made every turn feel surreal. But once you get used to it, the ride is almost disappointingly normal \u2014 I suppose that\u2019s the point.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vay\u2019s tech is impressive, no doubt, but in Europe, regulators may strangle its potential before it ever scales. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Vay is accelerating.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vay already has <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a 40-strong fleet of remote-controlled cars in Las Vegas. In Berlin and across Europe, though, progress has been slower, with no commercial service in place yet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Due to regulatory red tape, Vay is limited to test drives only and is required to keep a safety driver onboard. It has previously received an exemption, though. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2023, it used one such regulatory hall pass to become the first company to operate a car on a European public road without a person inside.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the German government hands out such permits sparingly. That\u2019s why I couldn\u2019t take the wheel on our test drive. That was Graeme\u2019s job, our safety driver for the trip. Nevertheless, it gave me a firm idea of what to expect.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1412892 js-lazy\" alt=\"A camera attached to the Vay car. \" width=\"1640\" height=\"1093\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2025\/04\/DSCF4769.jpg\"\/><figcaption>Cameras are attached to Vay\u2019s cars. Credit: Si\u00f4n Geschwindt<\/figcaption><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1412892\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2025\/04\/DSCF4769.jpg\" alt=\"A camera attached to the Vay car. \" width=\"1640\" height=\"1093\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_future_of_car_sharing\"><\/span>The future of car sharing?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I first heard of Vay\u2019s remote driving concept a couple of years back, I was skeptical. The company touted the benefits: less hassle, cheaper fares, better working conditions for workers. But it seemed like a business model at risk of fading into irrelevancy once self-driving cars went mainstream.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But with my mind fixated on the paradigms of ride-hailing on one hand and full autonomy on the other, I may have overlooked that Vay was doing something radically different.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe\u2019re creating a whole new category of mobility,\u201d Thomas von der Ohe, Vay\u2019s CEO <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and co-founder, tells me from the company\u2019s headquarters in Berlin. After spending years <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in the Bay area building self-driving cars, he came back to Europe, founding Vay in 2018 alongside Fabrizio Scelsi and Bogdan Djukic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vay\u2019s rides in Las Vegas cost about half as much as Uber. Von der Ohe says they keep prices low by reducing driver labour costs. With ride-hailing services, it\u2019s one driver, one car. But a single Vay driver can oversee up to 10 vehicles on any given day. When they drop one car at a customer, the drivers can \u201cteleport\u201d and gain control of another vehicle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vay could offer a taxi-style service where passengers ride in the back, but that would cut into profits and drive up prices. That\u2019s why letting customers drive themselves makes business sense, says Von der Ohe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vay aims to make its biggest impact in car sharing and rentals, not ride-hailing. Von der Ohe says the company can match average car rental prices in Germany while helping rental firms cut costs by reducing the need for large parking facilities, especially at busy airports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vay also hopes to provide a better version of car sharing. Customers don\u2019t need to pick up or park their cars \u2014 major hassles in dense European cities. Fleet owners can keep vehicles in use longer, and Von der Ohe believes the model could even reduce private car ownership in urban areas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All this makes for a compelling value proposition. Vay has raised $150mn in funding so far, including <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u20ac34mn ($37mn) from<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the European Investment Bank.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But there are still many potholes in the road. Outside Las Vegas, Vay is still unproven \u2014 and regulatory red tape isn\u2019t making things easier.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Europe, governments have been slow to adopt rules for remotely driven cars. Currently, the vehicles are subject to much the same guidelines as autonomous vehicles \u2014 which are patchy at best.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe have the tech, it works, it could be all over Berlin and Europe,\u201d says Von der Ohe. \u201cBut politics get in the way, there\u2019s no consensus. It\u2019s just so weird.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vay has completed over 10,000 trips in Vegas and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">plans to scale its fleet of remote-controlled Kia Niros to 100 this year.<\/span> The company <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">recently secured a new production facility in Sin City where it will retrofit the cars with its drive-by-wire system and a relatively inexpensive set of cameras. To fund the expansion, the company is also lining up another funding round, says Von der Ohe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After my test drive, I called an Uber to take me to Berlin Brandenburg Airport. As it rolled up, I couldn\u2019t help but wish it arrived empty \u2014 just waiting for me to jump in and take the wheel. Maybe one day. But for now, if I want that future, I\u2019ll have to book a ticket to Vegas. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/we-test-rode-vay-remote-driven-ev-car-sharing\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cHello, I will be your driver for today,\u201d says Bartek Szurgot, a software engineer at German startup Vay and my chauffeur for this ride. He disengages the handbrake, gently presses the accelerator and the new Kia Niro EV I\u2019m sitting in slowly pulls out of the parking lot.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As we approach the first intersection, Bartek&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":660781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw-blurple?filter_last=1&fit=1280%2C640&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2025%2F04%2FUntitled-design-3.jpg&signature=131b9014c35aa5cbae102fc0b604b417","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-660780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}