Stealth robocar startup sees remote drivers as autonomy shortcut

A Vay teledriver operates a remote-controlled vehicle from the company’s offices in Berlin, Germany. Vay, which has been quietly testing a fleet of remote-controlled electric vehicles all over Berlin, plans to roll out a mobility service in Europe and potentially the US next year. — Photos: Bloomberg

Deploying vast fleets of robocars has been much tougher than Tesla Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Waymo and others thought. One European startup is now pitching an intermediate step to full autonomy: teledriving.

Germany’s Vay, which has been quietly testing a fleet of remote-controlled electric vehicles all over Berlin, plans to roll out a mobility service in Europe and potentially the US next year.