DETROIT, MI -- As the electric vehicle industry remains in its infancy, the technology surrounding it continues to develop.

One of the newest developments is wireless charging.

Dozens of companies are working on wireless charging stations that could pave the way for electrified vehicles to become mainstream, according to analysts.

John O'Dell, an Edmunds.com senior editor focused on fuel efficiency and green cars, said although wireless charging for electric vehicles is primarily a convenience factor for now, it could help transform the electric vehicle industry.

O’Dell said wireless charging can save automakers money because they would no longer need to supply infrastructure and chords for charging. But the real “game changer,” he said, could come when companies have the technology to charge vehicles as they are driving.

"That could be a huge game changer in making electric vehicles a lot more acceptable, a lot more useable to people," O'Dell told MLive.com. "It depends on the degree to which the technology is developed."

To charge a moving vehicle, infrastructure would have to be built in the road.

Momentum Dynamics is one startup company hoping to cash-in on wireless electric vehicle charging, and eventually develop it to charge vehicles while moving.

The Pennsylvania-based company's CEO and principal founder Andrew Daga said the company plans to equip a number of buses and three Chevrolet Volts by the end of the year with wireless charging systems.

The long-term goal is to charge vehicles while they are moving, according to Daga.

"It could eventually work up to 20, 30 40, miles per hour or even as the vehicle approaches a red light," he told MLive.com following a panel presentation Tuesday during the United Kingdom-based AutomotiveWorld.com's Commercial Vehicle Megatrends USA 2012 conference in Dearborn. "There are many moving vehicle applications to this that we will eventually be going into."

Daga said the company has developed a unique and proprietary technology system that uses the electrical grid to recharge vehicles automatically without the use of a wires or owner assistance. The system, which is expected to cost about $6,500 for passenger vehicles, is attached to the vehicle. When the vehicle is parked over a special charging mat, the vehicle automatically begins charging. The charging mat is connected to an outlet like a plug-in charger would be.

“It works with cars, or with buses, or any other vehicles,” he said. “They all get recognized and the power is modulated independently.”

Daga said the company’s first target market is commercial and fleet vehicles, because there is minimal competition and it is easier to implement the technology in controlled settings.

The company, according to Daga, will have a fleet of about five buses out later this year for Enterprise Rent-A-Car at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif.; Duke University and Berks County, Penn.

Daga said Momentum Dynamics – founded in 2009 – is working with "numerous" suppliers and automakers about integrating the technology into their electric vehicles.

Brandy Schaffels, senior editor of car comparison website TrueCar.com, said convenience is a main factor for Americans, and electric charging, just like numerous other wireless devices, could catch on and transform the industry.

“We love it when life is easy,” she said. “Making it that much easier for the consumer to embrace the technology (would help the industry).”

So what’s stopping the wireless technology? According to analysts, the same things that are stopping electric vehicles from becoming mainstream: Cost, safety and infrastructure.

O’Dell said $6,500 for a wireless charging station is expensive. He said regular level 2 charging stations can cost about $3,000.

“I see it catching on to some extent if the cost can be brought down because it is a much more user friendly system,” he said. “None of it is really that problematic, but we tend to like … to automate things.”

Another potential problem with wireless chargers is the amount of energy that can be lost when transferring the power to the vehicle.

O’Dell said many companies have developed the technology to only lose about 5 percent of the energy, but that could continue to improve.

Daga was on a panel with Stephen Ptucha, Westport Power Inc. director of product management; Craig Jacobs, Eaton Corp. hybrids chief engineer; Larry Fuehrer, BAE Systems business development manager; and Corey Taylor, Castrol senior development technologist.

The three-day conference -- hosted by the United Kingdom-based AutomotiveWorld.com -- ended Thursday.