Stakeholders in automotive industry investing in quantum technology
(GlobalFleet) Stakeholders in the automotive industry will make a variety of uses of quantum technology:
Suppliers will be able to develop various new technologies such as battery materials and cooling systems. QC will optimize supply routes, including multiple forms of transport.
Supply chain management will boost efficiency along the value chain through accurate demand forecasting and warehouse logistics.
OEMs will benefit from QC in vehicle design, in-vehicle and autonomous driving software and ensuring the safety of connected vehicles.
Dealers will use QC algorithms to maximize the benefits of predictive maintenance.
Shared mobility and service providers will master vehicle routing to boost fleet efficiency and demand forecast according to geography through simulating various economic scenarios.
Automakers around the world have started investing in quantum technology with several targets:
Volkswagen: German auto giant announced a partnership with Google in 2017 to conduct research in quantum computing in three main areas.
Ford: Ford made a one-year agreement with NASA in 2018 to work with the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (QuAIL) to increase the fuel efficiency of diesel-fueled fleet vehicles.
Daimler: Daimler chose Google in 2018 to take the first steps in quantum research to develop sustainable and efficient mobility solutions.
Toyota: Toyota partnered with global automotive components manufacturer Denso and ran an experiment based on 130,000 commercial vehicles in Thailand to assess traffic data. Denso worked with Toyota subsidiary Toyota Tsusho to work with D-Wave Systems quantum computers.
Bosch: Accelerating its presence in battery development and e-mobility, Bosch invested in Zapata Computing in 2019 to support algorithms, quantum software and other quantum tech tools.
The era of digitization will have a lot to offer to the automotive and fleet industries in the years to come. So much so that it won’t be possible to analyze extensive amounts of data and provide comprehensive security over intelligent transport systems (ITS) of smart cities and vast fleets in several industries. In just a few years, many challenges and tasks in the fleet industry, such as congestion and route planning, will be handled by quantum computers, which operate based on quantum mechanics.
