Germany's Vay gets $37 million from EIB for remote-driven services in Europe

Eurazeo SE

17/10/2024 05:00

By Nick Carey
       LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - German remote-driving startup
Vay said on Thursday it has received 34 million euros ($37
million) in funding from the European Investment Bank to roll
out its remote-driven vehicle technology across Europe and
expand its development team.
    CEO Thomas von der Ohe told Reuters that the low-interest,
long-term, preferential loan from the EIB will help Berlin-based
Vay launch its commercial services either in Hamburg, where it
has already been conducting testing, or in Belgium where it has
formed a partnership with car-share provider Poppy.
    Earlier this year Vay launched its first commercial service
in Las Vegas where a "teledriver", or remote driver, delivers
electric short-term rental cars to customers then collects them
after the rental. 
    The teledrivers sit at a teledrive station with a steering
wheel, pedals and other vehicle controls. The actual car's
surroundings are reproduced via camera sensors and transmitted
to the screens of the teledrive station.
    Vay has so far raised about $110 million from investors
including Sweden's Kinnevik  KINVb.ST  Coatue and France's
Eurazeo  EURA.PA .
    The company has 20 cars in service in Las Vegas providing a
service that costs consumers half as much as an Uber per ride,
von der Ohe said. Vay is currently expanding its Las Vegas fleet
to 100 cars. 
    The startup plans to gradually introduce self-driving
features to its fleet as it learns from the cameras included on
its vehicles that are much cheaper than the lidar and radar
technology used by most autonomous vehicle developers. 
    But von der Ohe said that while truly self-driving cars are
many years away, there is huge potential for remote-driving
technology in the meantime.
    "We believe remote driving is the next frontier technology
that can really revolutionize all aspects of transportation
without any autonomy," von der Ohe said.
    He added that while car-sharing services are Vay's core
business, the company is working on remote-driving technology
for trucks and has a partnership with Stellantis  STLAM.MI  unit
Peugeot to use the technology for delivery vans.  

($1 = 0.9181 euros)

 (Reporting by Nick Carey
Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
 ((nick.carey@thomsonreuters.com; +44 7385 414 954;))