Start-up Vay tests remote-controlled cars

The start-up is now allowed to carry out its remote-controlled test drives in Hamburg-Bergedorf.

The start-up Vay has been granted a special permit for test drives without a driver in the car on public roads. The exemption was granted by the City of Hamburg's Department for Transport and Mobility Transition (BVM). The basis for this is a positive report from TÜV Süd.

"We are very pleased about the good cooperation with the authorities and this important step towards getting our unique concept on the road as soon as possible," says Thomas von der Ohe, co-founder and CEO of Vay. He founded the start-up in 2018 together with Fabrizio Scelsi and Bogdan Djukic. The founders have developed remote-controlled e-cars. Vay offers its customers a door-to-door service. A teledriver brings the ordered car to the customer by remote control and picks it up again after the journey. The teledrivers control the vehicles from a control center. While the customers are in the car, however, they drive the vehicle themselves.

According to Vay, the service should be similar to car-sharing services in terms of cost and thus offer an alternative to owning a car in the long term. Autonomous functions are also to be integrated into the system in future using the data obtained from the journeys.