(Bloomberg) — German company Vay has become the first company to put a car without a person inside on public roads in Europe. The milestone will pave the way for remotely controlled mobility within months, the startup says.
Wei promotes “tele-driving,” in which people remotely control cars from physical control posts miles away, as an intermediate step towards full autonomy. Expectations for a large number of robotic vehicles to be released soon have not materialized even after investors bet about $100 billion on the technology.
On Tuesday, the company said it had begun teledrive on predetermined routes in Hamburg after the port city issued a permit. While Vay has been testing the technology for over three years, its modified Kia electric vehicles required a safe driver.
“We will now work with the authorities on the next steps to offer this service to third parties,” CEO Thomas von der Oe, who previously worked at the startup Zoox, told Bloomberg News. “So we should be talking about months, not years.”
Wei’s service is based on teledrivers delivering electric vehicles to customers who themselves get into the car and drive to their desired destination. The teledrivers then directed the cars to the next customer. The startup has raised about $100 million from investors including former Google CFO Patrick Pichette, Kinnevik AB and venture capital firm Atomico.
