Estonian company Elmo, the first to put teledriving technology into service in 2022, has expanded to Helsinki. As a result, Finland became the second country in Europe to have teledriving on its streets and roads.

Using teledriving technology on the streets of Helsinki has been approved by Finnish Transport and Communication Agency Traficom based on the permit provided by the Estonian Transport Administration.

“I have always liked Helsinki and its positive attitude towards start-ups. Their openness to innovative technologies is verified by the fact that the largest start-up companies are established in Scandinavia. Their activity is supported on government level, which without a doubt contributes to the success of the companies,” says Elmo’s founder and CEO Enn Laansoo Jr.

Last year, Elmo introduced its teledriving technology on the major international start-up event Slush and simultaneously carried out several successful tests on local roads, which gave the confidence to take teledriving to the streets of Helsinki.

“Elmo brings an interesting addition to the testing of new vehicle-related technology in Finland. This is the first trial of teledriving vehicle in our country. At Traficom, our task is to enable experiments and innovations related to traffic and communication,” says Reijo Jälkö, the leading expert at the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom.

Elmo’s goal is to find a car sharing company in Helsinki who could be provided with a licence for the teledriving technology and offered the teledriving service. Until then, residents of Helsinki can place one-click orders for the delivery of Elmo’s rental cars to their door through Elmo’s app that can be downloaded from the web page elmorent.ee. To deliver a car to the door, Elmo’s certified teledriver will take control of the nearest car through a 4G network and will drive the car to the customer’s door by the time requested.

Elmo currently operates more than 100 electric cars in Estonia, providing delivery of rental cars via teledriving to addresses requested by customers in Tallinn as well as Tartu. Helsinki is now the third city and Finland the second country within the EU to allow teledriving on public roads and in service provision. In parallel, Elmo is in negotiations with several big cities with the goal of launching the teledriving provision in at least three different countries within 2023.

In August and September, Elmo’s focus is on servicing the first pioneer customers and introducing the technology to local car sharing companies, adapting it to Helsinki’s 4G and 5G networks. The gained knowledge helps to improve the next generation of Elmo’s teledriving technology and to help secure the necessary permits for Elmo’s future partners. The more extensive launch of home delivery service is planned in autumn once a local partner has been selected and the summer holiday season has ended.

Last year, Elmo became the world’s first deep-tech company to put road-legal teledriving and teledrivers licenced by the Estonian Transportation Administration into a real-life car sharing service. Elmo’s teledriving technology has been introduced and tested for licencing purposes to customers on the streets of Paris, Munich, Hannover, Zurich, Vienna, Los Angeles and many other big cities.

Elmo is an Estonian company whose main field of activity is the development of innovative deep-tech teledriving technologies (see elmorent.ee) and the provision of an eco-friendly car sharing service. Elmo is the first car rental company in Estonia to be awarded a CSR quality label.

Additional information:
Enn Laansoo, Jr.
CEO
Elmo
enn@elmorent.ee

Elmo asutaja ja tegevjuht Enn Laansoo jr räägib Kuku raadio ajakirjanikele, kuidas Elmo kaugjuhtimistehnoloogia toimib, kuidas rendiautod kaugjuhitavalt kliendini viiakse ja kuidas saab auto kindlaks kellaajaks ukse ette tellida.

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In an exciting collaboration, the Swedish clean technology company Elonroad and Estonia’s Smart Mobility company Elmo are teaming up to develop a cutting-edge stationary charging track for electric vehicles (EVs) with the aim to transform EV charging technology and promote sustainable transportation solutions.

Remote car control technology developer Elmo announced a groundbreaking update to the service offering of its remote electric cars rental – it’s no longer based on fixed stations, but on a free float. That means that a customer can pick up and return a vehicle where ever it’s most convenient, such as at the doorstep of your home or office, and leave it in the streets of Tallinn or Tartu. After the rental session closing, the car will be remotely driven to the next customer, increasing considerably the comfort for the customers, as well as allowing the company to service the same number of customers with a smaller car fleet, resulting, in turn, in less investments and in the decrease in the environmental footprint.

When a customer sees an available car in Elmo app or in the streets, it can right away be rented via the app. Together with the new service Elmo also refreshed its app, downloadable from Google Play or AppStore. Customers can order Elmo remote electric cars either via app or through the self-service web portal. The new service logic and the renewed app are allowing to further expand the use of remote cars, the first of which are already remotely driving on our roads.

„Elmo is a provider of the new generation urban mobility service, thus for us it’s a paramount to keep continuously innovating in order to increase the convenience for our customers, as well as to work towards a safer and greener environment. During our nine years of active business, we have seen an evergrowing demand for the car sharing service, as well as noticed how important is the freedom of mobility for customers. Our new free float service where a customer doesn’t need to return the car to the fixed station, increases considerably the convenience for customers, gives a significant time and cost saving for the users, as well as allows to avoid the high traffic areas, as the car can be left in a more distant street outside the city center, for instance,“ told Enn Laansoo Jr, the founder and CEO of Elmo Rent, adding that „it’s also worth reminding that with the electric cars one can use the public transportation lane, further escaping the possible traffic jams. By using our service, everyone can decrease the amount of CO2 in the city environment, as well as to give a positive contribution to the solving of parking problems.“

The new free float service is based on and made sustainable by the Elmo’s certified remote tecnology, pioneering in the world. Similar technologies have been tested for years, but only Elmo’s has in Estonia as of the 22nd August 2022 the approval of the National Transport Administration, being fully road-legal after passing the traffic tests. The remote car control technology together with its real life usage for the car sharing services of electric cars, make Elmo, company traded on the Nasdaq alternative market First North, the first in its field in the world.

„We are confident that from here the road takes us to the European and other global markets, allowing us to give our contribution to the Estonia’s success story in the export of innovative technologies. There are just a few services out in the market that are offering solutions to the three biggest challenges of our time – constant shortage of time in people’s everyday lives, increased focus on cost saving, and, at the same time, the need to offer immediate solutions for urban planning and environment protection. The more convenient and smooth we can make our service, the more people wil be choosing in the future a car sharing service instead of owning cars, and thus the bigger will be the impact of our remote technology-driven service on urban environment,“ explained Laansoo.

Elmo Rent AS is an Estonian company whose main field of activity is the provision of an environmentally friendly vehicle sharing service, and the development, launch and scaling of related environmentally friendly and innovative technologies, such as the vehicle fleet’s IT operating systems, car controllers and remotely controlled vehicles.

New app photos: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wWhVX0mnrPlaOU7pY_-ec1y-PEvSjuk9/view?usp=share_link