- Vay is expanding its Las Vegas fleet of EVs to over 100 cars.
- Unlike a ride share, Vay remotely drives a car to you that you’ll then take over, and remotely takes it back when you’re done.
- Since its launch in 2024, more than 6,000 rides have been taken.
While the automotive attention at the CES 2025 is spotlighting fully autonomous, there is some momentum with remotely driven vehicles as well. Case and point: Vay, which operates a fleet of these in Las Vegas, Nevada, is announcing a sizeable expansion.
With Vay, you can hail a car that will be yours to drive, but you won’t need to go to a rental car lot to pick one up. Instead, within the app – much like Uber, Lyft, or Revel – you’ll call the car to you, and it will be remotely driven to the requested spot. Then, you hop in, take control, use the car, and then return it within the zone.
I actually got to try this experience on day one of CES, and I will share my thoughts soon. For now, know that it’s cool, and a disruptor, offering a typical rideshare experience but with way more control.
While Vay has been available in Las Vegas for a While, it’s announcing that it will expand its fleet to 100 vehicles by the end of 2025. These will all be electric cars, with most popular model being the Kia e-Niro. Since Vay debuted in 2024, users have taken more than 6,000 rides.
To support the expansion, which will ultimately make it easier to get a car with Vay in the city and reduce wait times, the company is opening a new production facility within Las Vegas to help get these vehicles out on the road quicker. These aren’t fully autonomous vehicles, it’s primarily a camera-based experience, and the Vay employees remotely operating the cars essentially use a live feed to drive them in custom rigs. Vay will also hire more staff to meet the demand.
The hope is that once the facility is up and running, it can roll out up to 16 cars a week and get those on the road. Vay already has a maintenance facility within Las Vegas to ensure the electric vehicles are always charges and are operating smoothly.
We’re covering all of the latest CES news from the show as it happens. Stick with us for the big stories on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.
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While Vay is more like a delivered-to-you rental car operation than a ride share service, its growing popularity is undoubtedly thanks to cost and the overall experience. It can be cheaper than Uber or Lyft, and while it does require more work on your part, and the coverage map for where you can get the car or drop it off is more limited, it lets you be in total control.
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jacob.krol@futurenet.com (Jacob Krol)
