Vay staff | Picture credit score: Twitter (Bogdan Djukic)
Berlin-based Vay, a deeptech startup that claims to create a brand new path for mobility, introduced on Thursday that it’s the first firm in Europe to obtain an exemption allow for check rides with out a security driver on public roads.
The Authority for Site visitors and Mobility Transition (BVM) in Hamburg issued the exemption permission. One of many necessities for approval by the authorities was a great certification from TÜV SÜD.
TÜV SÜD examined the Vay teledrive system’s purposeful security and cybersecurity in compliance with ISO 26262 and ISO/SAE 21434 requirements. TÜV SÜD is an impartial third-party testing, certification, auditing, and consulting agency.
Anjes Tjarks, Hamburg’s Senator for Transport and Mobility Transition, says, “Clever mobility options are an important a part of the mobility transition. That’s why we’re delighted that Vay intends to supply a contemporary teledriving service in our metropolis and is now testing this revolutionary mannequin with out a security driver in Bergedorf. For us in Hamburg, fashionable mobility options for our residents are a significant political precedence. We’re constructively supporting concepts that evolve highest calls for on security.”
A brand new method to driverless mobility
Based in 2018 by Thomas von der Ohe, Fabrizio Scelsi and Bogdan Djukic, Vay goals to remotely carry and park electrical automobiles for its prospects.
The corporate intends to offer a sustainable, low-cost door-to-door transportation service utilizing remotely operated (“teledriven”) automobiles.
Teledrivers transport an electrical automobile to the shopper and accumulate it when the journey is over, saving the patron time looking for a parking place. Clients drive themselves whereas within the automobile. Vay views teledriving as an alternate option to autonomous driving and intends to progressively combine autonomous functionalities into its system utilizing high-quality teledrive knowledge.
The corporate has a staff of 150+ individuals and has workplaces in Berlin and Hamburg, Germany, in addition to in Portland, US.
Vay raised $95M in its Sequence B spherical of funding. Its buyers embody Kinnevik, Coatue, Eurazeo, Atomico, La Famiglia and Creandum in addition to distinguished enterprise angels reminiscent of former Alphabet CFO Patrick Pichette, a former member of the Administration Board for R&D, Design, CTO of Audi Peter Mertens and Spotify’s Chief Know-how & Chief Product Officer Gustav Söderström.
What has Vay been engaged on?
For greater than three years, Vay has been working remotely-controlled electrical automobiles on public highways in Berlin and Hamburg. To this point, a security driver has been used. With the exemption permission now in hand, Vay can undertake testing with out a security driver in a predefined area of Hamburg-Bergedorf. The corporate is now getting ready for this vital milestone in its four-year historical past.
Co-founder Thomas von der Ohe says, “We’re very completely satisfied concerning the good cooperation with the authorities and this vital step to get our distinctive idea on the street as quickly as doable. It’s nice to see that this may be finished out of Europe.”
Vay is growing a door-to-door service by which purchasers request an electrical automobile utilizing the Vay app. The corporate’s mobility service affords a teledriver that brings the automobile straight to the shopper and is remotely managed from the teledrive centre. Teledrivers sit at a teledrive station, which features a steering wheel and pedals designed to satisfy vehicle trade necessities.
A number of panels present the driving force with an outline of the site visitors situation. After the car arrives, the shopper drives themself to their vacation spot. When the shopper arrives at their location, a teledriver takes over the automobile, eliminating the time-consuming seek for a parking place.
Thomas von der Ohe provides, “With our mobility service with electrical automobiles, extra individuals could be transported with fewer autos. This leaves extra space for higher residing in cities. Vay expects that it might probably cut back private transportation prices and enhance street security. By teledriving, Vay desires to assist cut back the 4 essential causes of deadly accidents in inside cities: driving drunk or medicine, rushing, distraction and fatigue.”
Security performance
Vay makes use of quite a few cellular networks to allow secure and uninterrupted knowledge switch. Within the case of doable however ‘extraordinarily uncommon’ community failures or emergencies, the automobile instantly involves a secure cease inside milliseconds.
Moreover, teledrivers are additionally extremely skilled. They full a certificates after many weeks of sensible and theoretical instruction on the Vay Teledrive Academy. They discover ways to address emergency circumstances in site visitors.
