Volkswagen and D-Wave Pilot Quantum Traffic Optimization in Beijing: A Glimpse into Logistics AI
July 23, 2018
Quantum Routing Comes to the Streets of Beijing
On July 23, 2018, Volkswagen Group and D-Wave Systems, the Canadian quantum computing pioneer, announced their latest joint experiment in applying quantum algorithms to urban traffic flow optimization.
The pilot, conducted in Beijing, leveraged D-Wave’s 2000Q quantum annealer and focused on predicting traffic volume and suggesting optimized routes for taxis and vehicles across the city during peak congestion hours.
Though framed as an urban mobility use case, the underlying technology holds immense relevance for urban logistics, freight delivery, and route orchestration across dense population centers worldwide.
The Problem: Urban Congestion Strangling Last-Mile Logistics
Urban delivery—whether for eCommerce parcels, fresh food, or industrial goods—is becoming increasingly difficult due to:
Chronic congestion, particularly in megacities like Beijing, São Paulo, New Delhi, and Los Angeles.
Lack of predictability in vehicle flow, road incidents, and lane closures.
Inadequate static route planning tools that don't update in real time.
The July 2018 pilot targeted exactly these pain points, using quantum-powered algorithms to analyze and reroute fleets dynamically—something classical systems struggle to do at scale with millions of variables.
Inside the Experiment: Quantum Routing in Practice
Volkswagen and D-Wave ran their traffic routing experiment using real Beijing taxi data, integrating GPS feeds and traffic density predictions over a mapped city grid. The system used:
Quantum annealing to solve a variation of the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP), optimizing routes among many locations in minimal time.
A cloud-based interface to push routing decisions from the quantum computer to digital devices.
A hybrid model, where classical pre-processing defined the problem space, and quantum routines performed the route optimization.
This enabled near-instantaneous generation of non-linear optimal paths for taxis and hypothetical delivery vehicles.
Potential for Last-Mile Logistics
While the 2018 pilot focused on passenger taxis, logistics industry observers quickly noted the technology’s applications for:
Last-mile delivery trucks and vans, especially in congested cities with dynamic demand shifts.
Real-time fleet coordination across urban logistics hubs and warehouse depots.
Dynamic delivery rerouting, based on traffic jams, accidents, or weather patterns.
Traditional logistics routing software, like that used by DHL, FedEx, or SF Express, often recalculates routes hourly or manually. Quantum models could enable continuous adaptation.
Volkswagen’s Broader Quantum Ambitions
This pilot was not a one-off experiment. Volkswagen has been investing in quantum computing since 2016, and in July 2018:
It expanded its quantum research lab in Munich, hiring experts in quantum machine learning and optimization.
It began collaborating with Google’s Quantum AI lab in addition to D-Wave.
It published research on quantum cluster analysis for battery chemistry and quantum-based traffic prediction.
By applying quantum models to both vehicle logistics and urban infrastructure, VW aims to transform itself into a digital mobility and logistics platform provider—not just a carmaker.
Real-World Logistics Use Cases Emerging
Experts see a range of use cases where quantum traffic optimization could support enterprise logistics:
1. Courier Dispatching in Urban Zones
Dynamic rerouting of riders or vans based on real-time package volumes, reducing idle time and late deliveries.
2. Smart Parking and Staging
Optimizing parking spot availability for loading/unloading operations by delivery firms in narrow city blocks.
3. Warehouse-to-Urban Routing
Minimizing fuel and time waste by dynamically sequencing urban delivery points based on traffic density and drop volume.
4. Emergency Logistics
Quantum-enhanced routing for disaster relief shipments, where road availability changes minute by minute.
Volkswagen’s pilot provides a blueprint for how logistics fleets can use quantum AI not just for planning—but for live control.
China as a Quantum Logistics Testbed
Beijing was a fitting location for this pilot—not just due to traffic chaos, but because China is aggressively investing in both logistics digitization and quantum infrastructure.
As of 2018:
The Chinese Academy of Sciences had launched a quantum cloud service to support logistics and communications startups.
Alibaba Cloud and the Chinese Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS) project were laying the groundwork for post-quantum secure logistics networks.
Shenzhen-based SF Express had begun investing in AI-quantum hybrid solutions for last-mile delivery prediction.
The Volkswagen-D-Wave pilot thus served as a model system, aligning with China's national roadmap for quantum leadership and smart logistics.
Technical Challenges and Opportunities
While promising, quantum traffic optimization in 2018 faced serious challenges:
Scalability: D-Wave’s 2000Q could handle thousands of variables, but modeling entire urban grids in real time requires future-generation systems.
Noise and stability: Current annealers often produced fluctuating results across runs.
Data integration: Real-time GPS, traffic feeds, and logistics workflows needed seamless unification.
However, researchers noted these problems are solvable. D-Wave’s roadmap included more powerful systems (like the Advantage system launched in 2020), and hybrid quantum-classical models were becoming more stable.
A Global Playbook for Quantum Traffic Systems
Following this experiment, other cities and logistics operators began exploring similar quantum use cases:
Singapore's A*STAR agency launched quantum traffic flow research in partnership with Grab.
Tokyo’s transport authority began trialing simulation studies with Fujitsu’s digital annealer for delivery zone decongestion.
UPS’s ORION routing system, one of the world’s most advanced logistics optimizers, began modeling potential quantum upgrades.
Volkswagen’s experiment effectively catalyzed global exploration of how quantum can “go live” in delivery and transport.
Conclusion: From Quantum Cars to Quantum Couriers
The July 2018 Volkswagen-D-Wave pilot proved that quantum computers aren’t just locked in labs—they’re ready to engage with the real-world chaos of urban movement. And while this test ran on taxis, the underlying math is almost identical to what logistics firms face daily: how to move goods, people, and assets through cities fast, smart, and sustainably.
As quantum annealers scale and hybrid systems improve, logistics operators—especially in last-mile and urban freight—stand to gain from real-time adaptive routing, fewer delivery delays, lower emissions, and smoother urban flow.
The road to quantum logistics might be long, but in Beijing that summer, a few thousand optimized routes showed the world what the journey could look like.