Remotely driven car rental service launches in Las Vegas

Self-driving cars might have stalled, but now remote or “teledriving” tech is in the fast lane. German teledriving company Vay launched its first commercial service on January 17, letting Las Vegas users order a “teledriven” electric rental car to their location. With the push of an app, users in Las Vegas can now order a rental car, and it’ll be remotely driven to them by a “teledriver.” It’s the first commercial rollout of German teledriving company Vay’s technology, showing the potential for vehicles driven remotely by humans, rather than autonomously by a computer. “You’ll be able to hit a button, get a car delivered to you in a couple minutes, similar to the way that users would be used to with other mobility apps,” explains Vay’s U.S. general manager, Caleb Varner. “When that happens, the car will be delivered to them driverlessly, they’ll pop in, drive the car wherever they want, whether it’s for a couple minutes, a couple hours, or even more. They’ll bring it back, hit the button. The driver that sits in this chair here will take that car back from them and take it to the next user.” Founded in 2018, Berlin-based Vay has spent five years developing its teledriver tech. The company raised $95 million in funding in late 2021. For now, the service is limited to around the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the city’s downtown Arts District. Vay is hoping users will be attracted by the ease of ordering a rental car to their location, and the promise of lower per-minute prices, compared to other rideshare services. Drivers sit at a so-called “teledrive station” with a steering wheel, pedals, and other vehicle controls. The car’s surroundings are reproduced via camera sensors and transmitted to screens. Road traffic sounds, like emergency vehicles and other warning signals, are transmitted via microphones to the teledriver’s headset. “There’s really no difference. It’s just like driving any regular car,” Teledriver Antonella Rosa says. But the rollout of such remote services is reliant on legislation allowing vehicles to drive on public roads without a physical person behind the wheel. This article was provided by The Associated Press.