Are electric vehicles coal powered? The honest answer is, that in some cases, to a small extent, yes. The good news is that, according to Morningstar, about half of U.S. power generation will be renewable energy by 2032. Because the cost of renewable energy is dropping, its proportion of power generation will likely continue to increase. If you own an EV, you don’t need to wait around for this to happen. You can take matters into your own hands. One idea recently posted on Reddit spurred a string of interesting comments. “I have this power station with some solar panels and I can charge my car with it. The fact that this is even possible in the first place is what fascinates me. The fact that the energy transition allows me to generate and store my own power, making me independent from oil and gas companies is just wonderful. I get why big oil dumps so much anti-EV propaganda on the net. If everyone does this, we're no longer dependent on them!” If building your own solar EV charger isn’t your thing, on another Reddit thread, r/electricvehicles discusses a clever, manufactured rooftop solar charger built by GoSun. “While this makes zero sense for your typical commuter, it could make sense for someone camping or leaving their car parked for more than a few days. For example, at a trailhead or an airport.” According to the GoSun website, you can generate up to 20 miles per day with solar self-charging. Their compact rooftop carrier contains eleven hundred watts of solar power and has an estimated price of $3,000 and may be eligible for a 30% tax credit. Further down the thread, someone posted some interesting calculations: “A 7x4ft 500w panel could give 1.5 -to- 2 miles per hour. The Average one-way commute in the US is around 15 miles. So if you drive 15 miles, park for 8 hours outside the office, and drive back 10-15 miles, it’s near perfect. Even if it only averaged 8 miles a day for the year, that’s 3,000 miles. Thats 1/4 of the driving done by the average American. That’s on the low-end worst-case scenario for efficiency. Someone in the southwest could probably average 15 miles a day, which would be more than half of their annual driving. It’s not a bad idea to have it as an option for people who can’t install solar at home or those that park outside.” Let’s Get Back to the Electricity Coming Out of Your Wall Solar Photovoltaics Are About One Third Cheaper Per Megawatt Hour Than Coal The small solar power systems shown above are pretty cool, but did you know that solar photovoltaics (PV) is set to become the largest source of renewable energy by 2030? It’s being driven by good old capitalism, as the cost of solar panels has steadily fallen over the past few decades. From 2018 to 2023, global solar capacity has tripled. Early solar PV generation was mostly from rooftop installations on households and companies. Between 2025 and 2030, the amount of solar PV power generation is expected to accelerate due to the construction of new, large solar power plants. So where does that leave the future for coal? For that, we can once again turn to capitalism. It is now more expensive to keep running coal-fired power plants than it is to build new solar operations. On average, the cost to add one additional megawatt hour from coal production is $36, whereas the cost to add an additional megawatt hour of solar PV production is about $24. EVs Are About Two and a Half Times More Efficient Than Gas-Powered Vehicles Another really important point to remember is that electric vehicles are much more efficient than ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles. Even if your electric vehicle is recharged 100% by electricity generated from fossil fuels, its electric motors are much more efficient at transforming the energy stored in their batteries into motion. Efficiency is a measure of how much energy you get from fuel put into a vehicle (gasoline or electricity) compared to how much you get out to power your wheels and move you forward. The US Department of Energy found that EVs convert more than 75% of the energy received from the electrical grid to power at the wheels. Typical ICE vehicles only convert 12% to 30% of the energy stored in gasoline to power at the wheels. This makes EVs about two and a half times more efficient than ICE vehicles. That means less money spent per mile, and much less damage to the environment. Please Drop Your Thoughts in the Comments Below. Do you have any ideas for charging your EV with solar power? Have you found any ways to charge your EV for free? Please share your experience below in the comments. We’d love to hear how you’re finding ways to save money charging your EV. Chris Johnston is the author of SAE’s comprehensive book on electric vehicles, "The Arrival of The Electric Car." His coverage on Torque News focuses on electric vehicles. Chris has decades of product management experience in telematics, mobile computing, and wireless communications. Chris has a B.S. in electrical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA. He lives in Seattle. When not working, Chris enjoys restoring classic wooden boats, open water swimming, cycling and flying (as a private pilot). You can connect with Chris on LinkedIn and follow his work on X at ChrisJohnstonEV.