A US patent filed by the company describes a new way to charge EVs
Two or more EVs could drive next to each other and wirelessly transfer power
This technology is unlikely in the near future because it requires autonomous driving
A leaked United States patent application from Toyota shows the company is considering a new way to charge electric vehicles, wireless transfer of power from vehicles.
This idea could work by having cars share their battery power. An EV with a low battery could tag along behind another EV with a full battery and wireless power transfer technology, similar to the one currently used to charge phones, would allow power from the fully charged car to give a boost to the empty one.
The thinking behind this is that long trips could require very few charging stops and maybe none at all if every car on the road could tap into a collective power source because batteries would get charged for most of the driving time.
Obviously, this technology is nowhere near ready to reach production, since wireless power transfer technology still requires the power source to touch the receiving battery, or at least come very close to it, which is impractical for cars driving down the highway. Furthermore, this technology only supports relatively low intensity transfers, very far from the massive intensity needed by an electric vehicle.
Some of these problems could be solved by autonomous cars, since they could coordinate their movements in a way that could allow them to drive safely very close to one another, but it is still relatively unlikely.
A way in which this idea could be implemented with some success would be to setup moving power banks, basically trucks carrying huge batteries that would drive down major highways with the only purpose to provide power to cars without them needing to stop to use a charging station.
