Recently, electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular, as they decrease reliance on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are still many challenges hindering the adoption of EVs. For example, EVs have short driving ranges and long charging times. To overcome these challenges, wireless power transfer (WPT) is emerging as a promising solution. WPT enables the efficient wireless charging of EVs to increase driving range, while simultaneously decreasing battery size and improving convenience. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of recent trends in WPT technologies and applications to wireless charging of EVs. The fundamental principles of WPT are briefly explained. The state-of-the-art technical progress in the field of WPT is explored in detail. The latest applications of WPT to charging EVs are thoroughly investigated, including stationary and dynamic wireless charging. Moreover, the economic feasibility of stationary and dynamic wireless charging of EVs is analyzed. Finally, to address safety issues related to human exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs), methods for EMF shielding are proposed.