CES 2025 – After autonomous driving, here comes remote driving

The future of mobility gives rise to numerous debates. In addition to the autonomous driving that we already know, a new approach stands out: remote driving. This is the path on which the German start-up Vay is working. A technology that allows human drivers to control cars remotely, in real time, using virtual control stations.

The year 2024 was marked by big announcements about autonomous driving. Starting with Tesla, which presented two new vehicles without steering wheel or pedals: the Cybercab and Robovan. But the future of mobility has surprises in store for us. The world discovered a new approach at CES 2025 in Las Vegas.

Human rather than AI?

This is remote driving. Although the goal is exactly the same as in the case of autonomous driving, namely to drive cars without anyone behind the wheel, this initiative is very different. With remote driving, humans retain an important place in the driving process: they are the ones who control the vehicle.

The principle is simple, a human driver sits remotely on a virtual station equipped with a steering wheel, pedals and screens. This technology “ low-tech » relies simply on cameras. In contrast, autonomous driving relies on artificial intelligence and sophisticated systems to eliminate human intervention.

Vay focuses on remote driving

Remote driving has an economic advantage: reduced costs compared to traditional VTCs, with cheaper journeys. As Vay, a German start-up working on this approach, explains, this could help circumvent the ethical and technical challenges that those involved in autonomous driving must face.

Also readCES 2025 – With its first electric car, Sony follows (with difficulty) the example of Xiaomi

Created a year ago, the young company has increased its fleet from 2 to 30 cars and made more than 6,000 journeys. Thomas von der Ohe, boss and co-founder of the German start-up (and formerly of Zoox), wants to be able to “ deliver an automobile to a location chosen by the user » in order to propose “ a real alternative to individual cars ».