Vay's Remote-Driven 'Driverless' Cars Challenge Robotaxi Giants

Vay is redefining the concept of a "driverless car" by fully embracing remote driving technology. Unlike robotaxi companies that often view remote operation as a stigma, this Berlin-based startup uses it as a core feature to deliver vehicles to customers without anyone inside.

The company's contrarian approach aims to make private car rentals more affordable and convenient than traditional ride-hailing services. By leveraging human operators who can remotely control vehicles, Vay bridges the gap between full autonomy and current technology, offering a practical solution that could scale faster and with less capital than fully autonomous systems.

Founded by Thomas von der Ohe, Fabrizi Scelsi, and Bogdan Djukic, Vay emerged from a desire to solve mobility challenges more quickly than the robotaxi industry. Von der Ohe, a former technical program manager at Zoox during its early days, witnessed firsthand the shifting timelines of autonomous driving goals.

"It always felt like it was three years out," von der Ohe said of autonomous driving. "And then every year it shifted by a year. So we wanted to have self-driving cars everywhere in 2020 at Zoox. And then it was 2021 and so forth."

After leaving Zoox in 2018, he sought to stay in mobility but work on something that could be brought to market faster and scaled with less capital. The result was Vay, which takes a fundamentally different approach to the driverless concept.

"Instead of automating the ride-hailing service, which can be technically challenging and costly to scale, Vay wants to rethink how we rent cars."

The service operates through a proprietary app similar to Uber or Lyft. Customers order a car, upload a driver's license and a photo of themselves, and receive a vehicle delivered to their location without a driver inside. The service is currently available in Las Vegas within a geofenced area about twice the size of San Francisco.

Once the car arrives, the renter takes over the vehicle. Vay's fleet consists of 100 Kia Niros, compact all-electric SUVs retrofitted with four cameras and no other complex sensors. This minimal sensor suite helps keep costs low.

Inside Vay's Las Vegas operation center, eight driving stations allow trained human operators to remotely control the fleet. The setup resembles a video game simulation with three computer screens and a disembodied driver's seat. An emergency protocol is activated by a large red button, causing the car to pull over to the side of the road.

For delivery, remote drivers operate vehicles only on local roads and stay under 25 mph. Once the customer takes control, the car can be driven on highways.

Remote operators at Vay must meet strict criteria, including completing approximately 1,000 kilometers of remote driving before they can operate vehicles for the service. Vincent Reddy, an operations lead for Vay, described the experience.

"It's similar to kind of like a high-grade racing sim. The thing that feels the most different is not having the feedback of what it feels like driving over bumps and things on the road because the seat doesn't move. There's no G-force, or you don't get the feeling of accelerating or braking."

Despite the lack of physical feedback, the system has proven reliable. During a demonstration, there were no notable incidents during a 10-minute driverless ride around the block of Vay's Vegas office.

The company maintains a ratio of one remote operator for every 10 vehicles. Importantly, this doesn't mean one operator controls ten cars simultaneously. Instead, a remote operator can deliver one car and immediately move on to the next vehicle, maximizing efficiency.

Vay's core value proposition is affordability and flexibility. The CEO states the service should be about 50% cheaper than the average Uber ride, with pricing structured to be more economical for longer trips with stops.

Users are charged by the minute, with a decreased rate when the vehicle is parked. Based on the app's pricing, this translates to:

• $0.35 per minute while driving
• $0.05 per minute while parked

For example, a 30-minute drive to and from a destination with a 90-minute stop would cost approximately $25. The company does not currently use surge pricing but expects the pricing structure may evolve.

The low cost is achievable because Vay's fleet lacks expensive sensor suites, and remote operators manage multiple vehicles efficiently. As von der Ohe explained, "So I have much more cars and remote drivers, and that's why we make it half the price."

Vay has raised more than $200 million, including a $60 million investment from Grab Holdings, the Singaporean tech company that owns the super app of Southeast Asia. The startup employs about 200 people and has provided 35,000 trips since its founding.

While Vay currently uses remote driving, the CEO stated the company may pursue autonomous driving in the future. However, building a fully autonomous ride experience like Waymo is not on the immediate roadmap. Instead, Vay plans to gradually add autonomous driving features over time.

"We're not in competition with them," von der Ohe said of robotaxi operators, highlighting Vay's distinct market position. The service has seen particularly high demand during major events like the Consumer Electronics Show, where wait times can extend to 31 minutes when the ideal target is five minutes.

Vay represents a pragmatic middle ground in the autonomous vehicle landscape. By embracing remote driving rather than treating it as a temporary solution, the company has created a viable business model that could scale more rapidly than fully autonomous systems.

The startup's success in Las Vegas demonstrates that customers are willing to use a "driverless" service that relies on remote human operators. As the technology evolves and the company gradually incorporates more autonomous features, Vay's approach may serve as a blueprint for how to bridge the gap between today's transportation needs and tomorrow's fully autonomous future.