Vay enables connected vehicle experiences in Las Vegas using Verizon's 5G network
It's a beautiful day in Las Vegas and a road trip to explore nearby Red Rock Canyon is on the itinerary. You open an app and request a car. Upon receiving the request, a professionally trained remote teledriver drives a car directly to you.
You get in, take control of the car and begin the 13-mile scenic drive west to a vista of unparalleled natural splendor. When you return to downtown Las Vegas later in the day, you open the app again and ask the teledriver to take the car back. Just like that, you are now free to get ready for a night on the town—without even needing to find a parking space.
This trip isn't a thing of the future. Thousands like it have already been made possible through Vay’s collaboration with the City of Las Vegas - with Verizon’s advanced network playing a key role. Originally founded in Germany, Vay has now brought its vision of driverless mobility to the United States.
Navigating a U.S. launch for Vay's teledriven mobility service
Vay specializes in remotely driven electric vehicles (EV) that can be rented by the minute. When a customer requests a car through the app, the car is remotely driven to the customer's location by a Vay teledriver. Once it's delivered the customer takes over and drives to their destination just like a regular car—perhaps shopping for groceries, getting to a doctor's appointment or meeting a friend for lunch. When the car is no longer needed, the customer ends the rental in the app, exits the car and a Vay teledriver remotely drives the car to the next customer, offering a unique short-term car rental service.
"Vay offers a unique experience where you have, basically, transportation or mobility as a service," said Scott Nash, Senior Director of Connected Vehicles at Verizon Business. Unlike traditional rental cars and car sharing services, Vay customers don't have to pick up a car from a rental center or deal with parking. They can simply drive the car for the time they choose, then have a teledriver remotely take it to its next destination when their trip is complete.
Vay had already successfully launched this novel concept in Europe. But before bringing it to the U.S., the German startup needed to find the right location. Las Vegas had everything it needed—but the city of Las Vegas needed to be confident that Vay's teledriven mobility service would run safely and smoothly before giving its approval.
Vay knew that a reliable network would be fundamental to its success in this new market.
"Reliable connectivity is absolutely essential in the remote driving industry," said Claire Eagan, Legal Director at Vay. "While we have safety measures in place for potential connection failures, maintaining consistent connectivity with our vehicles is vital for the successful operation of our service," she added. And with safety an even higher priority, robust connectivity was a non-negotiable for Vay.
Vay needed network partners that could not only deliver a reliable network, but also provide the credibility Vay needed to help navigate government regulations and obtain necessary approvals.
Verizon sees our potential and has helped our business grow.”
Claire Eagan, Legal Director at Vay
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Verizon's fast and reliable 5G connectivity delivers a smooth ride
Verizon provides fast and reliable connectivity to Vay’s mission-critical initiative, and it brought to the table brand-name credibility that city officials could trust. This was essential to enable a successful launch in Las Vegas.
"Verizon’s reliability allows me to go talk to council folks and lawmakers and be able to represent the safety of our system, because our system is reliant on a safe network," Eagan said.
Verizon proposed a comprehensive solution of 5G and 4G wireless to power Vay's U.S. launch. Meanwhile, Verizon's wireless network would allow live video feeds from the HD cameras installed on the front and the back of Vay's cars. Verizon's wireless connectivity also empowered essential two-way communication between customers and their teledrivers.
Verizon also brought deep expertise in the autonomous and connected vehicle ecosystem. For example, MCity, the University of Michigan's test facility for autonomous and connected vehicles, is powered by Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network. This expertise along with Verizon ThingSpace, a platform that helps organizations develop and manage IoT connectivity, allowed Vay to better manage their Verizon connectivity with features such as device activation, data management, and data analysis. TJ Fox, Senior Vice President for Industrial IoT and Auto at Verizon, said, "In a 5G environment with low latency and high bandwidth, these vehicles will be the ultimate mobile device. They communicate with the infrastructure around them to make them better, faster, stronger and safer as they move around the city."
In addition, Verizon had a long-standing working collaboration with Michael Sherwood, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer for the city of Las Vegas. Sherwood is passionate about bringing innovative solutions like Vay to Las Vegas. "Not only are we the entertainment and sporting capital of the world, but we also like to consider ourselves the technology and innovation capital. We have a lot of great companies here that are providing innovative cutting-edge services that you really can't find anywhere else in the world," said Sherwood.
Thanks to this collaboration, Vay realized its goal of a smooth U.S. launch, while also creating a strong foundation for future innovation and expansion.
Vay starts its motors in Las Vegas
Vay is growing rapidly. "In January 2024, we launched our first commercial service in the world in Las Vegas, Nevada," said Eagan. "Since then, we have grown to a couple of hundred users, and we've had a couple of thousand trips. It's been a really exciting journey."
Soon after launching, Vay was able to expand its range of coverage. "We've been able to expand our service offerings to the vast majority of Las Vegas and the reliability of the Verizon network has played an important role," Eagan added.
According to Sherwood, the new service benefits both the local community and visitors. "Solutions like Vay are changing the lives of students that need to get from home to school, and parents that may not have a car but need to get to the doctor. Vay, Verizon and the city of Las Vegas are providing unique solutions that not only help the community but also keep them excited to be in Las Vegas," Sherwood said.
Vay, Verizon and the city of Las Vegas are providing unique solutions that not only help the community but also keep them excited to be in Las Vegas."
Michael Sherwood, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer for the city of Las Vegas
An open road in Vegas and beyond
With Vay gaining momentum in Las Vegas, it has ambitious plans for what comes next. For starters, to meet demand, Vay is planning to scale up its Las Vegas fleet to more than 100 EVs. Expansion into the business-to-business (B2B) market is in the works, too.
Vay is also considering new U.S. locations. "When we're looking at potential markets, we're looking at a number of factors—connectivity being the most important, as safety is Vay's first and second priority," Eagan said.
Vay has an open road for future growth. "Verizon sees our potential and has helped our business grow. In fact, Verizon’s support has played an important role in making that possible," Eagan said.