Ford and BMW investigate quantum computing to improve EV mobility

Ford and BMW have been investigating how quantum computing can advance the development of their respective battery and fuel cell vehicles.

In independent initiatives the two vehicle manufacturers have been working with Quantinuum’s InQuanto platform for quantum computational chemistry to lay the groundwork for future innovations that can improve the performance of battery and hydrogen powered vehicles.

Computational chemistry is well suited for quantum computing as typically highly accurate simulations of complex real-world molecules are beyond the reach of the most advanced classical computers, due to the large size of the problem space, which grows exponentially with the size of the system.

As such new materials for batteries for example is one of the early use cases for quantum computing and the automotive industry also is one of the early adopters of the method.

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Ford and Li-ion batteries

Ford’s focus has been on simulating the chemistry of lithium-ion batteries with the eventual goal to improve their performance and safety.

While Li-ion batteries can be charged and discharged many times, their efficiency reduces with increased cycling and they also are sensitive to heat and inherently flammable.

There are several ways improvements can be done, for example via energy density, power density, lifecycle, cost or recyclability.

And this is where quantum chemistry comes in, says Ford quantum computer scientist Marwa Farag, who worked on the problem with Ford physicist Joydip Ghosh.

For example, they modelled a candidate metal oxide used for battery cathodes and created models representing the states during the battery charge and discharge.

“Computational chemistry can provide insights about the charge/discharge mechanisms, electrochemical and thermal stability, structural phase transition and surface behaviour and it plays a vital role to find potential materials that can enhance the battery performance and robustness.”

BMW and fuel cells

BMW’s initiative is focussed on modelling the surface characteristics of materials for use in its hydrogen fuel cell technology.

One of the key challenges in the development of novel fuel cell technology is the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction that takes place in the hydrogen to electricity conversion process.

Quantum computing has the potential to address this challenge by enabling first principles accurate calculations of such a complex system, unlike traditional computing techniques that do not deliver either the accuracy or scale.

BMW’s ongoing research in fuel cells has led to a more than doubling of the continuous output as well as weight and size reductions in its second-generation fuel cell, which is used in the iX5 Hydrogen model. With the power of quantum computation, further improvements are in prospect.