Thought leaders IDTechEx were among the first to identify three new megatrends in the world of technology: Structural Electronics (SE); 3D Printed Electronics (3DPE); Energy Independent Electric Vehicles (EIVs).

The most dramatic new advances and visions have no name initially. So it is with electric vehicles that need no external charging or refuelling - no, not even wireless charging.

Forget the obsession with driverless autonomous cars; energy independent vehicles are the megatrend. Electric land vehicles, boats, underwater craft and aircraft already exist that never plug in or refuel.

Small manned electric vehicles - e-bikes to car-like micro EVs - often sell in the largest numbers. Although they are usually lower in cost than regular cars, they will reach over $33 billion in 2026 according to IDTechEx analysis.

High Power Energy Harvesting (HPEH) is a term beginning to be used for creation of electricity where it is needed using ambient "free" energy. That zero-pollution, high-energy conversion typically captures light (photovoltaics), heat difference (thermoelectrics and heat pumps) and movement (electrodynamics).

IDTechEx Research's brand new report analyses and forecasts the wireless charging market for electric vehicles and small electronics.

A trillion dollar opportunity to 2035, electric buses are being completely reinvented because they are the electric vehicle sector already attracting billion dollar orders and they can prevent millions of deaths and injuries from air pollution.

It seems obvious; energy harvesting is intermittent, so combine different types to make it continuous and therefore much more useful.

Plenty of kilowatts from no fuel. This dream ticket is a reality today from the rapid adoption of high power energy harvesting. Energy harvesting converts ambient energy into electricity where it is needed, off-grid.

The term 'energy harvesting' is most typically applied to powering small electronic devices using say sunshine, vibration or temperature.

Analysts IDTechEx almost completely rewrote their report Power Electronics for Electric Vehicles 2015-2025 this year and frequent updates take place, such is the pace of change.

Buses are now a crucible of change, often adopting new technology before cars.

High Power Energy Harvesting: Off-Grid 10W-100kW 2016-2026 is the title of a new IDTechEx report examining a newly significant off-grid energy market.

Totally different. Everything that constitutes a hybrid or pure electric vehicle will change beyond recognition, advises analyst group IDTechEx.

The power electronics business as applied to electric vehicles is becoming so huge that very divergent approaches become viable.

IDTechEx interviews in Japan have established that supercapacitors across lithium-ion batteries in cars can increase range by 10% by permitting deep discharge, provided suitable batteries are used that can tolerate such a regime.

This article shares some of the findings of the new IDTechEx Research report, Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles 2015-2030: Land, Water, Air and some of what will be discussed in the forthcoming IDTechEx webinar on 9th June.

IDTechEx are hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 9 June 2015.

IDTechEx's Electric Vehicles: Everything is Changing, conference was successfully held during the 28th and 29th of April 2015 in Berlin.

"Future Electric is unlikely to be the final name of our company," said CEO Jasper Vind in our interview at EVS28 in Korea last week.