Elmo sets 157 km/h remote driving record at F1 Circuit Barcelona with street-legal Nissan Leaf over live commercial mobile network 

Barcelona / Tallinn – March 2026 – As a part of the CircuitX showcase held alongside MWC26 Barcelona (2–5 March), European mobility technology company Elmo set a new global remote driving speed record , reaching 157 km/h with a street-legal Nissan Leaf at the iconic F1 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. 

The previous record of 115 km/h has now been significantly surpassed — twice — confirming that high-speed, road-legal remote driving is  already in active public operation. 

First run: 150 km/h – remote driver trackside 

The first record-breaking run reached 150 km/h and was performed by licensed remote driver Risto Parri, who controlled the vehicle from a Generation 1 remote driving station located trackside at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. 

“It’s actually pretty crazy to become a new world record holder — even if only for a moment — and to do it on the legendary F1 circuit in Barcelona. Driving 150 km/h with no one sitting in the car proudly demonstrates the high level and maturity of our technology,” said Risto Parri, licensed remote driver at Elmo.

Second run: 157 km/h – 3,300 km cross-border remote control 

The record was broken again shortly after, when Enn Laansoo, Jr., licensed remote driver and CEO of Elmo, controlled the same street-legal Nissan Leaf with Generation 3 remote driving station from Elmo’s headquarters in Tallinn, 3,300 km away, reaching 157 km/h — effectively the maximum speed officially permitted for the vehicle. 

This high-speed cross-border remote driving test demonstrates that modern commercial mobile networks (5G) are  already capable of supporting globally scalable teleoperation, including high-speed applications. 

“Driving a vehicle at 157 km/h from 3,300 kilometers away proves that distance is no longer the limiting factor for high-speed remote driving. This is further evidence that remote driving is a practical and scalable alternative to full autonomy in many use cases,” said Enn Laansoo, Jr., adding, “I am extremely proud of the team effort and the result of six years of dedicated development of our remote driving technology.” 

Elmo has been operating remotely controlled vehicles in public service since 2022, becoming the first company globally to commercialize road-legal remote driving at scale. The Barcelona milestone builds on years of real-world operational experience. 

5G, network quality & global partners 

The demonstration was conducted in collaboration with Telefónica, providing local connectivity; Nokia, monitoring network performance and quality parameters in real time; and GSMA, organizer of the broader MWC26 ecosystem. 

“Huge congratulations to the Elmo team on their incredible achievement. Breaking a land‑speed record at the CircuitX demo showcase provides a glimpse into the future of connected mobility. What we saw at the Circuit de Barcelona‑Catalunya proves how advanced connectivity, real‑time data and engineering excellence can come together to push the limits of performance and safety. Elmo’s record‑setting run captures the spirit of innovation that CircuitX was built to showcase, and we’re proud to celebrate this moment with them.” — Richard Cockle, Head of GSMA Foundry.

GSMA Fusion and Elmo have also been collaborating closely with the mobile industry through the GSMA Open Gateway initiative to validate network capabilities for remote driving. As part of this work, the companies have been exploring how Open Gateway network APIs – including Quality on Demand, location, and edge compute – can support the consistent, low-latency connectivity required for teleoperation. By enabling common, standardized network interfaces across operators, Open Gateway helps ensure that remote driving solutions can scale globally without bespoke integrations, aligning with broader automotive industry calls for interoperable, future-ready connectivity frameworks.  

This builds upon Elmo’s previous long-distance remote driving milestones, including the 4,300 km cross-border record from Doha to Tallinn during Doha MWC25 and the earlier 3,400 km record from year ago, reinforcing Elmo’s position as a global leader in road-legal remote driving technology. 

A practical alternative to full autonomy 

Unlike fully autonomous vehicles requiring complex AI stacks, high hardware costs and additional remote drivers support, Elmo’s remote driving modular platform enables low latency real-time human-in-control operation, integration into existing vehicles, immediate regulatory compliance, and rapid deployment across urban, logistics, and defense use cases. 

The F1 circuit test confirms that teledriving technology can handle not only urban driving but also high-speed, performance-critical environments, over very long distance. 

About Elmo

Elmo is a European mobility deep-tech company and the world’s first to commercialize road-legal remote driving in public operations. Since 2022, Elmo has operated remotely controlled vehicles on public streets across Europe and demonstrated cross-border teleoperation at distances exceeding 4,300 km. 

Its technology enables safe, scalable remote operation via 4G/5G, satellite, and multi-network architectures — with applications in smart mobility, logistics, and defense.  

About GSMA

The GSMA is a global organization unifying the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver innovation foundational to positive business environments and societal change. Our vision is to unlock the full power of connectivity so that people, industry, and society thrive. Representing mobile operators and organizations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, the GSMA delivers for its members across three broad pillars: Connectivity for Good, Industry Services and Solutions, and Outreach. This activity includes advancing policy, tackling today’s biggest societal challenges, underpinning the technology and interoperability that make mobile work, and providing the world’s largest platform to convene the mobile ecosystem at the MWC and M360 series of events. 

More information: 
 
Elmo 
info@elmoremote.com