WIRELESS charging is just one ‘big idea’ that could shape the future of electric vehicles, a North-East based think-tank has suggested.

Urban Foresight, which is based at The Core building on the Science Central site, in Newcastle, a £250m science and technology park, sought information from across the world on innovative projects relating to electric vehicles.

It has now published a report detailing 50 examples of what it described as “transformative policies, projects, technologies and business models” implemented in 23 countries.

The North-East has been at the forefront in the development of electric vehicles with car builder Nissan among a number of companies leading the way.

The UK Government wants every new car manufactured from 2040 to be an ultra low emission vehicle.

In the document, Urban Foresight examined the use of wireless charging technology for electric vehicles which is already operational in Gumi, South Korea.

Electrical cables buried under a seven and-a-half mile stretch of inner-city road create magnetic fields which are picked up by an all-electric bus and converted into electricity.

Software company Route Monkey, which has offices in Gateshead, is also cited because of a sophisticated tool it has developed which allows electronic vehicle fleet managers to assess cost and emission savings.

David Beeton, director at Urban Foresight, said: “This document profiles 50 examples of transformative policies, projects, technologies and business models that have been implemented in 23 countries across six continents.

“We put out a call for submissions earlier this year which saw over 150 nominations from across the world, spanning the full spectrum of applications related to electric mobility.”

Urban Foresight moved to The Core – the first building to open on the Science Central site - in November of this year after looking at various locations across the UK.