Verizon Business is delivering 5G connectivity to Vay Technology to support the startup's fleet of teleoperated electric vehicles (EVs).

Vay users can request a car through the Vay app and have a "teledriver" deliver it. Using Vay's teledriving technology, Vay employees are able to remotely control vehicles from a teledrive station, which includes vehicle operating tools such as the steering wheel and pedals. Visuals are reproduced from the vehicle's camera sensors to the teledrive station screens. This allows employees to remotely deliver a vehicle to its destination.

Once the vehicle is delivered to the customer, the user takes control of the car. And when the customer has driven it to the final destination, the customer "hands" it back over to the teledriver.

Verizon Business will bring 5G connectivity to Vay cars plus custom data plans to assist Vay in managing data generated by its teleoperated vehicle fleet.

Tesla is also looking into 5G connectivity for its cars. In March, Tesla issued a job posting that hinted at the automaker's plans to develop a private 5G network for its vehicles and Optimus robots.

Connectivity is key

"From Vay's app-based user interface to their high-tech teledriving command centers to the vehicle fleet itself, connectivity touches all corners of the business," said TJ Fox, SVP of Industrial IoT and Automotive for Verizon Business, in a statement.

Verizon's 5G services can also support vehicle features such as transmitting telematics or diagnostic information from the sensors and cameras in the vehicles to Vay and/or the company's customers. Telematics is a GPS fleet tracking service that provides fleet performance analytics such as stop durations, distance traveled, idle time and more. Connectivity services can also support over-the-air updates to software and firmware in Vay vehicles.

Thomas von der Ohe, Vay co-founder and CEO, said Verizon has assisted the company's entrance into the US market from Europe. "Verizon's coverage, performance and network reliability are essential for handling the data load inherent to teleoperating our fleet to the highest standards of safety and capability," he said in a statement.

Vay was founded in 2018 and launched its first commercial remotely driven (teledriven) mobility service in Las Vegas. Vay has over 150 employees and operates in Berlin, Hamburg and Las Vegas. Vay announced its service was live in Las Vegas in January 2024. In 2021, the company raised $95 million in its Series B funding round.

Autonomous vehicle market picks up speed

According to Fortune Business Insights, the global autonomous vehicle market was valued at $1.5 billion in 2022 and is forecast to exceed $13 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 32.3% during the forecast period. 

Autonomous vehicle services are taking off – robotaxi Waymo hit 100,000 weekly trips in August. Waymo differs from Vay in that it acts as an autonomous taxi service whereas Vay users can drive the vehicles themselves. However, Vay plans to "gradually introduce autonomous driving functions in the system as it is safe and permitted to do so," according to the company's fact sheet (PDF).