UK roads will charge electric cars while they drive

The UK government has announced it's set to trial a new type of highway that wirelessly charges hybrid and electric cars that drive on it.

The supercharged highways would juice up hybrid or electric cars that would normally need to stop, using a straight line charging path between A and B.

The results of this off road trial, based on this feasibility test, will be published and could lead to real motorway trials in the next few years, if successful. But it will come at a cost.

The report stated that "the cost for a 1 km stretch of DWPT could vary between £350,000 to £425,000". A number of different charging solutions would be considered from pressure chargers to wireless power transfer via the road surface.

From AA to AAs

Highways England have also said that, in addition, it will invest further in rechargeable transport by inserting charging ports over the motorway network every 20 miles or so, whether the road-charged highway goes ahead or not.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said, "We continue to explore options on how to improve journeys and make low-emission vehicles accessible to families and businesses".

With hybrid and self-driving cars being a large part of future transport plans, getting the infrastructure right early on could be a political win.

• Charge your car wirelessly from 2017