Vay begins remotely operated drives in Las Vegas without a human present [Video]

Six months after sharing initial plans to expand to the US and begin remotely operated journeys in Las Vegas, Vay has successfully driven its teledrive vehicles on public roads in Sin City without a human present inside. Check out the video below.

Vay is a teledriving specialist originally based in Berlin, Germany, that has taken a remote-first approach to “driverless” vehicles, in which an operator operates an EV in its fleet from a dedicated hub.

While Vay hopes to one day introduce more autonomous driving functions into its system as permitted, its current service relies on teledrivers, whose focus is the remote delivery of rental EVs to customers. The process enables customers to hop in a delivered EV, drive off, and park whenever they are done, alerting Vay to step back in and remotely drive the vehicle back to base.

After operating its first vehicle without a driver present in Hamburg this past February, Vay declared itself the first and only company to do so on European roads. This past May, Vay followed up with plans to operate in the US, which led to its first teledriver hire in Las Vegas in May.

Vay’s initial US teledriver completed a thorough training program via the company’s teledrive academy, becoming the first of hopefully many future drivers to operate out of the company’s new Las Vegas headquarters.

Today, Vay is celebrating another key milestone, beginning teledriver-operated routes on public roads in Las Vegas for the first time, joining a US competitor that’s been offering a similar service.

Vay joins Halo.car in Las Vegas with remote EV drives

With the commencement of operations in Las Vegas, Vay has become the first teledriver specialist to operate on public roads on two separate continents. That said, Vay is not the first company to operate vehicles in the US – or Las Vegas, for that matter – without a human inside.

Fellow teledriving specialist Halo.car has been operating “driverless” rides from its remote hub in Las Vegas since June. Still, another teledriving service in the US is welcomed and represents a viable bridge in the gap between in-cabin drivers and fully autonomous travel, which still appears years away.

To reach today’s driving milestone, Vay says its teledriver technology went through a thorough development and validation process to ensure it met all industry standards to allow for
safe operation on public roads. Vay co-founder and chief technology officer, Fabrizio Scelsi, elaborated:

At Vay, we don’t just say ‘Safety First’ – =we live it. We implement safety and security by
design, considering this as an essential part of our development process starting from
day one.” Vay follows key safety standards, including those for vehicle safety, functional
safety (ISO 26262), and cybersecurity (ISO 21434). TÜV Süd, an independent third-party for testing, certification, auditing and advisory services, has tested and positively endorsed Vay’s technology in accordance with these high safety standards.

With Las Vegas operations now underway, Vay aims to offer safe, sustainable door-to-door vehicle deliveries via its app. Vegas locals interested in testing out Vay’s service can request early access by subscribing to a waiting list.

Check out Vay’s video of the remotely operated EV navigating Las Vegas roads with no one inside below: