By Dan O’Shea posted 07 Sep 2022
Multiverse Computing is joining an industrial consortium in its home country of Spain led by automaker Renault and has been charged with the mission of promoting electric, autonomous and connected vehicles.
The project, titled “Industrial ecosystem of innovation for electric and connected vehicles in Spain,” has three areas of focus–decarbonization through the use of hydrogen, batteries and other new materials; digital transformation, cybersecurity and connectivity; and mobility. Multiverse said it is contributing to these goals by developing new quantum-based algorithms to better support new testing platforms and other operations in electric, connected and autonomous cars.
“The market for quantum applications will be much bigger than the market for quantum hardware, a trend that we’ve seen in classical computing for decades,” said Enrique Lizaso, CEO of Multiverse Computing. “Our clients also have the option to run quantum-inspired algorithms on classical hardware, such as improving classical AI results which has relevant use cases in every industry.”
Rodrigo Hernández, Director of Verticals and Strategic Alliances at Multiverse Computing, added that the project proves the relevance of quantum computing in the electric vehicle industry. “With this consortium, our technology will be provided to the most competitive OEMs in the European electric vehicle market,” he said.
Automakers such as Hyundai and BMW also have been aggressive in exploring quantum use cases for their industry, with Hyundai having a particular focus on electric vehicle applications.
The Renault-led project has been approved by the Spanish government, which also has reserved €39 million (about $40 million USD) in funding from the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation (PERTE) of the Electric and Connected Vehicle (VEC) to support the effort. In addition to Multiverse, the alliance draws participants from the fields of technology, clean energy, the circular economy, automotive manufacturing, components and batteries, new materials and algorithms. Universities and technology centers are also part of the consortium.
The Spanish government, leveraging pandemic recovery funds from the European Commission, is planning to register 250,000 new electric vehicles by 2023. Spain is the second biggest automaker in Europe and the eighth largest in the world. Multiverse is based in San Sebastian, Spain.
Dan O’Shea has covered telecommunications and related topics including semiconductors, sensors, retail systems, digital payments and quantum computing/technology for over 25 years.
