Einride to cooperate with U.S.-based quantum computing company IonQ

Swedish electric and autonomous freight player Einride has announced its initial results of a groundbreaking collaboration with the U.S.-based quantum computing company IonQ. The collaboration aims to further enhance Einride’s AI-powered optimization platform, Saga. This marks the first real-world application using quantum computing to analyze commercial transport data.

Saga uses the comprehensive operational and customer data generated by Einride’s vertically integrated transport ecosystem of electric trucks, autonomous trucks, and charging infrastructure. This allows Einride to successfully serve customers’ transport demand with fewer vehicles, lower energy use, and reduced overall transport cost.

The opportunites of quantum computing for Einride

By combining advanced quantum technology with proven classical computing methods, the partnership aims to help navigate the complexity of today’s electric transport ecosystem. The engineering teams at Einride and IonQ have successfully modularized the fleet orchestration problem, allowing quantum algorithms to specifically target the optimization of shipment allocation while at the same time accounting for critical real-world constraints across shipments, vehicles, drivers, and charging infrastructure.

Initially the companies assessed 15 potential quantum use cases within the Einride ecosystem, spanning from optimizing shipment scheduling and load building to energy trading, and enhancing the safety and security of autonomous trucks through improved training, navigation, and quantum-key distribution. Current benchmarks validate the effective integration of quantum processing within the existing workflow.

The cooperation with partner IonQ

“Achieving fully electrified and automated freight networks in the most efficient way possible is an exponentially complex task,” said Roozbeh Charli, CEO at Einride. “To take the next step in the development of our platform, we are taking a hybrid approach that combines our state-of-the-art in-house optimization algorithms with IonQ’s quantum technology. This fusion of technologies will allow us to leverage our proprietary data to drive even greater cost-effectiveness in our transport solutions.”

“IonQ’s mission is to bring quantum advantages to real-world industries, and logistics is one of the most compelling use cases,” added Niccolo de Masi, Chairman and CEO at IonQ. “Einride’s unique depth of operational data allows us to use quantum optimization in conditions that are both commercially relevant and technically challenging. Together, we’re demonstrating how quantum can accelerate the shift to smarter, cleaner, and more efficient freight networks.”