Electric cars that charge themselves while driving? This tech could make it possible.

Impact

We're not quite there yet, but researchers are one step closer to giving the world electric cars that can recharge themselves while we drive. Imagine never needing to stop to refuel on a road trip.

Stanford University researchers have figured out a way to wirelessly supply power to a moving object, meaning that electricity is being transferred over an unusually long distance. In other words, imagine a future where we can charge a device — perhaps a phone — without actually connecting it to a wire.

"We can rethink how to deliver electricity not only to our cars, but to smaller devices on or in our bodies," Stanford professor Shanhui Fan said in a release. "For anything that could benefit from dynamic, wireless charging, this is potentially very important."

This could someday make electric cars the new standard, as opposed to more traditional, fossil-fueled or even hybrid vehicles. But for now, the study is mostly a proof of concept. It will take some time before this technology can charge anything as high-powered and demanding as an electric car in motion.