“Hello, I will be your driver for today,” says Bartek Szurgot, a software engineer at German startup Vay and my chauffeur for this ride. He disengages the handbrake, gently presses the accelerator and the new Kia Niro EV I’m sitting in slowly pulls out of the parking lot.
As we approach the first intersection, Bartek indicates, turns the steering wheel, makes his observations, and drives out onto a busy road near the centre of Berlin. So far, pretty standard — except for one big difference.
Bartek isn’t in the car. He’s in an office a few blocks away, controlling the vehicle like a high-tech puppeteer.