The European Auto Sector Expanding Rapidly

After a century of development and fine-tuning, the combustion engine is going the way of the dodo as Europe shifts to clean energy.

FREMONT, CA: The combustion engine is becoming extinct after a century of advancement and improvement as Europe moves toward sustainable energy. However, electric motors are only one component of the future of automobiles. 

The advent of completely driverless vehicles could be just around the corner, and the promise of a battery with a million miles of range is becoming closer. European automakers are working more frequently with quantum computing firms to negotiate the path to these technologies.

Technology innovation has a long and illustrious history in the European vehicle industry. Europe has always been at the forefront of the industry, from the Kesselsdorfer Wagenbau in 1898 to the marvel of the 2023 McLaren Artura. The industry needs to make a quantum leap forward in its future steps. Although they are still in their infancy, quantum computing and other quantum-based technologies can help the car sector in various ways.

The low-hanging fruit is autonomous driving right away. Automakers and researchers are still trying to figure out how to create self-driving cars. Every stride forward made by businesses like BMW, Tesla, and Waymo seems to be accompanied by hundreds of edge cases that the AI is unable to handle. However, quantum speedup—the capacity of quantum processors to carry out operations and/or run algorithms that a classical system couldn't do in a useful period—could provide advancements in several key areas for autonomous vehicle systems.

Recently, researchers at Terra Quantum AG teamed up with Volkswagen to explore cutting-edge approaches for employing hybrid quantum neural networks to enhance image recognition. This specific experiment showed how quantum technologies could significantly enhance the quality assurance procedure.

In essence, the researchers used quantum-powered AI to boost its image-detection capabilities' precision to enhance the car-making process's caliber. The methods they're developing might easily be applied to other fields, but they could also be used to improve the eyes of self-driving cars by speeding up and improving the accuracy of neural network image processing.

Another quantum-related project involved a collaboration between BMW and the Paris-based quantum firm Pasqal. The business wants to work with the German-owned automaker to develop new, stronger, lighter materials for making cars. To ensure a clean energy approach to every step of the car-making process, the team aspires to eventually arrive at a stage where the design process is quick, precise, and requires zero prototyping.

According to experts, the market for quantum technologies is expected to reach nearly USD 500B by 2030. BMW and Volkswagen are early adopters out in front of the impending quantum computing hardware explosion. However, they can be sure that every other major automaker also has a plan to get in on the action.