BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University’s solar vehicle team, Team Sunergy, designed and built its first Cruiser Class vehicle entirely in-house — including cup holders — ahead of the 2018 American Solar Challenge and Formula Sun Grand Prix.
See many of the step-by-step processes required to build this vehicle named ROSE (Racing on Solar Energy).
About App State’s Team Sunergy
Appalachian State University’s internationally recognized Team Sunergy is an interdisciplinary, student-led team with a passion for sustainable transportation — and the ingenuity, innovation and drive to create it. The team began in fall 2013, as a class project to build a solar-powered golf cart, and has evolved into an award-winning program that has achieved podium finishes in every year of competition in both the Formula Sun Grand Prix and American Solar Challenge (ASC), including first-place finishes in both the 2021 and 2026 ASCs. Both collegiate races set the standards for and test the limits of solar vehicle technology. Team Sunergy’s first vehicle, Apperion, was a modified single-occupant race car; it was replaced by the two-passenger ROSE (Racing on Solar Energy) in 2018, and in summer 2026, the team unveiled its current vehicle, Autumn — a two-passenger Cruiser Class car. Learn more about App State’s Team Sunergy at https://sunergy.appstate.edu.
About Appalachian State University
As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, cost-effective education. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.
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