Hamburg and the Vay car-sharing service will start a mobility service with electrically powered and completely remote-controlled cars in 2022.
The Berlin Tele-Fahr company Vay and the Hanseatic City of Hamburg want to start a fully electric shuttle service from the first quarter of 2022, in which the requested car rolls to the customer completely remotely. He then wedges himself behind the steering wheel and steers to his destination. At the end of the journey, Vay takes over again via remote control.,
From ghost hand to customer
The ghost cars are controlled by certified Tele drivers. There is also no security driver in the car. This eliminates the need for the customer to search for a vehicle in the immediate vicinity and all parking processes. The fully electric and highly utilized fleet is intended to reduce traffic. Vay relies on Kia E-Niro models for automotive hardware.,
The teledriver sits in front of an oversized games console with multiple screens on a real car seat behind a real steering wheel. The camera technology installed in the cars allows the teledriver to sit in the car, as it were. Compared to the sensor technology in fully autonomous vehicles, the camera technology should only cause a fraction of the costs. Vay speaks of a few thousand euros. The remote control should meet the highest and latest safety standards in the automotive industry. Since the tele-driving system is equipped with redundancies throughout, such as the simultaneous use of several 4G mobile networks, the security of the service and other road users should be guaranteed at all times. In addition, the vehicles are only guided along routes where there are no cell phone dead spots. Vay has been testing the Telefahr technology on public roads in Berlin and Hamburg for two years, currently with a safety driver behind the wheel. Together with the city of Hamburg, Vay is working on completing the approval process for a service without a driver in the car by the start of next year.,
The sharing car will be ordered as usual via app. Vay promises that customers will only have to wait a few minutes for their car. Initially, Vay will start in the Bergedorf district. The offer will later be extended to the entire city of Hamburg.,
Conclusion
The Vay car-sharing service relies on remote-controlled electric cars that roll to the customer as if by magic, who then takes over the car for their journey. Sounds spooky, but it should noticeably relieve traffic.
