Claimed to be an industry first, the trial will be run by the Hertz Corporation and its Global EV programme, which aims to form partnerships with charging station providers, carmakers and local businesses to boost the popularity of electric vehicles worldwide.

Information about the usability of the system, additional functionality and recharging patterns will be fed back to Plugless Power. Large companies in five other industries will also be involved with the trial, but are unconfirmed as yet.

Hertz already has electric vehicles available to rent in New York, Washington DC and San Francisco in the United States, as well as recently introducing the technology in London and Shanghai. It said it expects to add electric options to fleets in other countries this year.

Mark P. Frissora, Hertz chairman and chief executive officer, said: ‘We’re excited to participate in Plugless Power’s pilot program so that we can be on the ground floor of this new technology, learning key findings about EV wireless charging.  As we move forward our goal is to have a variety of charging options for EV customer use, aligned with the charging equipment installed by EV manufacturers.’