The idea of self-driving cars is to take drivers completely out of the picture, both for safety and comfort.
However, it wouldn't make a lot of sense to ride to work in a steering wheel-less self-driving car and then have to get out and plug it in. That would sort of defeat the hands-off mantra of an autonomous car.
It appears Google had that same realization. Recent U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filings reveal the tech giant is testing wireless charging for its self-driving cars, according to IEEE Spectrum.
The wireless chargers would work by resonant magnetic induction to charge the car's onboard batteries -- sort of like inductive charging for smartphones.
Rather than resting directly on a charging pad like a phone, the car would park over a charger embedded in the pavement like a manhole cover. Once the car is securely parked over the charger, a power transfer would begin.
Of course, Google isn't the first to think of wireless charging for cars. Nissan demonstrated inductive charging in November 2015.
The end-goal of wireless charging would be to charge cars on the go, like is currently being tested in the U.K.
Although not the first, Google's interest in wireless car charging demonstrates the tech isn't just a fanciful concept, but instead likely a standard feature of human- and self-driven electric vehicles of the future.