German remote-driving firm that hopes to make private car ownership redundant (www.theguardian.com)

A Berlin startup called Vay is rolling out a remote-driving service that pairs electric cars with humans operating them from a control center rather than autonomous software. In a recent demo at the former Tegel airport a remotely seated driver named “Bartek” used pedals, a steering wheel and three large screens fed by four rooftop cameras to pilot a vehicle; headphones relay outside and cabin sounds and haptic sensors let the operator feel bumps, while a prominent emergency-stop button can halt the car instantly. Vay’s app will let customers summon a vehicle, drive it themselves, then end the rental while a remote driver handles delivery and parking — billed by the minute at roughly half the cost of today’s car-sharing services. The move matters because Germany’s parliament has just cleared legislation permitting commercial remote-controlled vehicles in designated areas from Dec. 1, creating a practical middle path between human taxis and fully autonomous robotaxis. Technically, the model relies on high-fidelity video, low-latency control links, robust safety procedures and trained remote drivers (hundreds of miles’ training and selection from taxi/Uber pools). If scaled, it could reduce private car ownership, change urban parking dynamics, create a new class of remote-driving jobs, and shift regulatory and infrastructure priorities toward reliable connectivity, operator certification and fail-safe controls.