Vay begins commercial operation of remotely driven EV rides in Las Vegas

Eight months after announcing plans to enter the US market, European teledrive service Vay has officially begun commercial operations of its remotely operated EVs in fabulous Las Vegas. Customers can now order a car delivered directly to them without a driver in the vehicle, hop in, drive off, and use it as long as they’d like.

Vay is a mobility on-demand specialist originally based in Berlin, Germany, that has taken a remote-first approach to “driverless” vehicles. We use parentheses because Vay’s service entails a remote operator driving a given EV in its fleet to and from its customers.

The process enables customers to hop in a delivered EV, drive off, and park whenever they are done, alerting Vay to step back in and remotely return the car back to base.

The company began operating its first vehicles without a driver in Hamburg a year ago, declaring itself the first and only company to do so on European roads. In May 2023, Vay followed up with plans to operate in the US, beginning in Las Vegas, which led to its first teledriver hire in the area.

By November, Vay was beginning teledriver-operated rides on public roads in Las Vegas for the first time, joining a similar company called Halo.car. Today, Vay shared that it has officially commenced commercial operations in Las Vegas, allowing residents and visitors alike to test the teledrive service for a fee.

Vay begins offering paid driverless rides in Las Vegas

Following a few weeks of early access, Vay has officially launched commercial teledrive services to various areas around Las Vegas, including the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the Arts District.

By downloading the Vay app, customers can schedule a “driverless” EV rental car drop-off within the company’s current service area (see above) before a per-minute rental is activated. Vay co-founder and CEO Thomas von de Ohe spoke about the mobility company’s latest milestone:

After five years of developing our technology, we are bringing our vision to life in Las Vegas. Our convenient, affordable and sustainable door-to-door mobility service aims to free cities from parked cars and make them more liveable and greener.

To begin, Las Vegas customers will be charged $0.30 per minute while driving their EV rental and $0.03 per minute during stopovers. While its rides around Sin City are not actually autonomous, Vay believes its service provides the most cost-effective, sustainable solution to get around town at one’s own pace.

The Vay app is currently available in the iOS app store as a free download here. We look forward to testing Vay’s service out next time we’re in Las Vegas. What do you think? Would you try out Vay?