> Might be a noob question, but why can't EVs have solar panels on them directly

This is 100% a very common noob question. The answers are therefor easy to find if you try.

A much better idea is to 20x the surface area of solar panels, get ones that aren't as weight sensitive (and therefor expensive), mount them on your house or garage roof instead, and charge the EV off that when it's parked adjacent. Maybe add a battery as buffer for when the car's not there.

And it in fact has been an option on some cars, but not a popular one. It has been described as "worthless"

https://www.reddit.com/r/Hyundai/comments/tayavo/what_happen...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46456963

Have a look at this, which is a (semi) serious hacker attempt to make it a bit more practical.

https://www.dartsolar.com/ https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaLounge/comments/194ajsm/my_tes...

He came up with a design where the panels can can unfolded for a larger surface area. But you can only do that when the car is at rest. And it's permanently like having a loaded roof-rack. Its's still less practical than mounting solar panels on the roof of a house or other fixed structure.

Solar is winning the energy race