Ush and Poppy Launch Belgium’s First Remote-Driven Car Service at Port of Antwerp-Bruges.
Ush and Poppy – subsidiaries of D’Ieteren, are rolling out Belgium’s first remote-driven car service to deliver rental cars around the Port of Antwerp-Bruges.
Remotely driven vehicles have been driven on European roads before, but only as part of test programmes. This is the first time revenue will be generated from driverless operations on the continent.
Poppy, the largest car-share provider in Benelux - has enlisted the support of Vay to have vehicles delivered directly to consumers rather than the customer having to pick up a car from a rental centre.
Users can then choose to take the wheel themselves or be driven by a remote driver operating from a teledrive station at Ush’s headquarters.
Vay is currently operating a commercial service in Las Vegas, Nevada. Vay announced at CES in January that it is expanding its door-to-door remote-driving service to 100 vehicles in Las Vegas in 2025, having recently gone past the 6,000 trips milestone.
Ush has secured an exclusive partnership with Vay to further develop and commercialise its proprietary technology in Belgium.
The initial rollout includes two remote-driven vehicles operating in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, serving Boluda, a leading provider of global maritime services.
“Bringing remote-driving technology to Belgium requires a careful, phased approach in collaboration with regulators,” explains Max Levandowski, CEO of Ush.
“We chose to start at a manageable scale with two vehicles serving key locations in the port.”
According to Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, the Port has already served as a launch pad for autonomous shipping and autonomous drones, both of which are now scaling rapidly:
“The testing of this remote-driving technology follows the same trajectory, reinforcing the port’s position as a key innovation hub where technologies are tested, validated, and fast-tracked for commercial deployment. The port aims to be a regulatory sandbox where new technologies can prove their reliability and potential.”
Thomas von der Ohe, CEO and founder of Vay, added: “I moved back to Europe from Silicon Valley and joined my co-founders to take advantage of our continent’s world-leading automotive engineering excellence.
Remotely driven vehicles are taking to European roads — for a commercial service — for the first time. With the support of regulators, we hope this will be the first of many exciting, remote drive-enabled projects across Europe.”
Through this partnership, Boluda employees working in remote areas of the port can request a Poppy rental car in real-time. The vehicle will be remotely delivered to them, allowing them to drive to their destination. Once they’re finished, control of the car will be returned to the remote driver, who will navigate it to the next user.
The trial is rolling out in a series of phases:
- Phase 1 (approved by authorities and starting today): Initial deployment on a defined route on the right bank of the port, with a safety driver in the vehicle monitoring the first rides.
- Phase 2 (coming months): Expansion to a second route on the left bank of the port.
- Phase 3 (end of 2025): Full-scale deployment across the entire port, without route restrictions and without an onboard safety operator.
In the coming months, more companies around Port of Antwerp-Bruges will be invited to offer the service to their employees.
Poppy hopes for a full commercial rollout in the city of Antwerp starting in 2026.To achieve this, Ush says it will continue its close collaboration with all relevant authorities to define a solid legal framework for remote driving.
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