Currently, quantum computers are primarily performing benchmark tasks to demonstrate their capabilities. Google, for example, is aiming to build a large-scale quantum computer that can do complex, error-corrected computations, which will pave the way for potentially breakthrough applications.
Those applications include projects that quantum computing is particularly well-suited for, like drug discovery; classical computers can't simulate drug molecules. Quantum computing may also help make chemical production safer by finding new reactions to make chemicals.
Battery technology is another way that quantum computing could help achieve a breakthrough. Electrochemical battery simulations could lead to higher-performing batteries that last longer and have more power, helping the economy move toward a renewable future.