The first all-electric community powered by a solar and battery microgrid launches in California
New clean energy communities are coming to California. Leading homebuilder KB Homes announced Wednesday it has established what it calls the first all-electric, solar-and-battery-powered microgrid community in the golden state.
KB partnered with the US Department of Energy (DOE), SunPower, Scheider Electric, and Kia, among others, to test the new energy-efficient homes at several of its new communities.
The new all-electric, solar-and-battery-powered micro-communities are located at Oak Shade and Durango, part of KB Homes Shadow Mountain master plan in Menifee, California. However, these are not your typical energy-efficient homes with added solar panels.
The houses involved in these communities are equipped with backup battery storage, bidirectional electric vehicle charging capabilities, and perhaps most importantly, are interconnected, creating a resilient energy network.
When combined, these technologies establish a self-supporting energy network capable of powering a neighborhood during a power outage.
How all-electric, solar-and-battery-powered community works
Each home in the microgrid community will come fitted with the following:
- SunPower Equinox solar system
- A 13 kWh SunVault battery storage
- Rheem® ProTerra® hybrid electric heat pump water heater
- Carrier® high-efficiency two-stage heat pump
- Schneider Electric D Energy Center Smart Panel
Individual solar panels will harness energy from the sun and then store it in powerful batteries to serve as backup. In addition, community solar panels are connected to a 2.3 MW battery to complement the network’s power supply.
On top of this, all houses will come equipped with electric wiring for EV charging, while some homes will feature Wallbox chargers. Homeowners can enroll in SunPower’s Virtual Power Plan (VPP) program, which allows them to utilize their EV chargers, battery storage, and other energy solutions to balance the grid load while demand is highest automatically.
Over 200 all-electric homes will be solar-powered, with added battery storage while connected to a community microgrid. As a result, the communities are power-outage resistant, according to SunPower, serving as a model for the future of home development.
Electrek’s Take
Microgrids are not a new invention. They have been around for some time but are primarily used at industrial sites or extensive commercial developments. However, with residential energy use accounting for about 20% of GHG emissions in the United States, the community KB Homes and its partners have built should serve as a blueprint for new home building.
Furthermore, extreme weather is the number one culprit behind blackouts in the United States. According to a recent study from Climate Central, around 83% of reported major outages were from weather-related events. More importantly, the number of blackouts due to weather has risen roughly 78% in the past 10 years.
Building grid-resilient communities using solar, battery storage, and all-electric components can significantly reduce the impact.
For example, Babcock Ranch, a “solar-powered community” in Florida 12 miles from Fort Meyers, had water, electricity, and internet, while over 5 million others were not as fortunate after Hurricane Ian plowed through the state.
Last year, the DOE announced $61 million in funding to create ten “connected communities” capable of interacting with the grid to optimize energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions.
According to a DOE study, grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs), such as those introduced by KB Homes in California, could save $18 billion in power system costs while cutting 80 million tons of CO2 emissions each year.
On an annual basis, this is more emissions than 50 medium-sized coal plants or 17 million vehicles. The first two communities in Alabama and Georgia have used around 42% to 44% less energy than an average all-electric home.
It’s proven these microgrid communities work. Now it’s time for federal officials to step up and accelerate this transition. It will be less costly in the long run.
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With new models rolling out from General Motors, Porsche, Honda, and several others, US EV sales increased by over 10% in the first three months of 2025. Nearly 300,000 EVs were sold in the first quarter of 2025. These were the top-selling models.
New EVs drive US sales growth in Q1 2025
Electric vehicle sales showed mixed results in the first quarter. Although Tesla is the center of attention as it continues to lose market share, several new EV models made an impressive debut.
With over 30,000 EVs sold in the first quarter, more than double the number sold last year, GM surpassed Ford and Hyundai Motor, placing second behind Tesla. GM’s Chevy is now the fastest-growing EV brand in the US, with the new electric Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado arriving.
GM sold 10,329 Chevy Equinox, 6,187 Blazer, and another 2,383 Silverado EVs in Q1. Thanks to its partnership with GM, Honda had an impressive sales quarter, selling over 14,000 EVs, including its luxury Acura brand.
The Prologue SUV remained one of the top-sellers with 9,561 units sold in the first quarter, while the Acura ZDX added another 4,813.
According to Cox Automotive, Honda led EV sales growth for new entrants in Q1, followed by Acura, Jeep, and Dodge.
Jeep sold 2,595 Wagoneer S models during the quarter, its first electric SUV sold in the US. Dodge, another Stellantis-owned brand, sold 1,947 Charger EVs, or what it calls the world’s first electric muscle car.
Although Chevy’s Equinox EV made a statement in Q1, Ford’s Mustang Mach-E remained the top-selling non-Tesla with 11,607 models sold.
| Rank | EV model | Q1 2025 sales |
| 1 | Tesla Model Y | 64,051 |
| 2 | Tesla Model 3 | 52,520 |
| 3 | Ford Mustang Mach-E | 11,607 |
| 4 | Chevrolet Equinox EV | 10,329 |
| 5 | Honda Prologue | 9,561 |
| 6 | Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 8,611 |
| 7 | Volkswagen ID.4 | 7,663 |
| 8 | Ford F-150 Lightning | 7,187 |
| 9 | BMW i4 | 7,125 |
| 10 | Tesla Cybertruck | 6,406 |
After introducing the upgraded 2025 IONIQ 5 (which now has even more range and an NACS charging port), Hyundai sold 8,611 electric SUVs in Q1, an increase of 26% from last year.
Porsche had the highest EV sales volume growth after launching the electric Macan. With 3,339 units added, the Macan EV made up for Porsche Taycan sales falling 18% to just 1,019.
As Cox Automotive Analyst Stephanie Valdez Streaty noted, “The year certainly started strong, but the road ahead will be anything but smooth.”
Trump ending federal incentives and introducing new tariffs will “pose a monumental challenge for many automakers,” according to Valdez Streaty. Despite several new models arriving and significant incentives being offered (at least for now), the rest of 2025 “will likely be a volatile one for EV sales in the US.”
Ready to score some savings while they are still here? We can help you get started. You can use our links below to find deals on the top-selling EVs in your area.
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![Electric concrete pump truck can drive 30 miles, pump 65 cubic yards [video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/putzmeister_electric-pump.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Based on a capable Volvo FM Electric 8×4 chassis, Putzmeister revealed one of the world’s largest all electric concrete pump trucks at the bauma equipment expo in Munich, Germany this week. The zero-emission concrete pumper can up to 50 km and pump approximately 50 cubic meters of concrete on a single charge.
50 km (a little over 30 miles) and 50 cubic meters (about 65 cubic yards) may not seem like impressive numbers, but consider this: a single cubic yard of concrete weighs a little over 4,000 lbs. (2 tons). A bit of simple math later, and you’ve got a quiet, vibration-free machine blasting (65 cu. yds ×4,100 lbs./yd = 266,500 lbs.) of construction material nearly 140 feet (42 meters) in the air.
That’s over 130 tons of construction material moved a really long way, and that’s (of course) without the use of diesel or gas.
“Volvo Trucks is the innovator when it comes to new technologies in combination with electric trucks. After presenting electric concrete mixers and heavy applications for mining, we are proud to show yet another world-class innovation for the construction segment here at bauma,” says Christoph Fitz, Head of Sales at Volvo Trucks in Germany. “With this electric pump truck, customers can have a zero-exhaust emission solution, low-noise operation and an efficient process thanks to the work-while-charging capacity.”
The Volvo FM Electric-based concrete pump is motivated by a pair of electric motors developing a continuous 330 kW (442 hp) of output through the company’s proprietary I-Shift gearbox. The truck’s four battery packs add up to 360 kWh of capacity, which can DC fast charge at speeds up to 250 kW or operate continuously (pumping even more material) with grid power or PU500 remote power connection.
Electrek’s Take
There will surely be a few nay-sayers who’ll try to cite the relatively short-sounding range of trucks like this, or the 100-ton Tadano mobile electric crane, but the range is typically more than enough to operate in urban environments and motivate the asset across even the largest job sites. Additionally, the ability to plug in to grid power and operate 24/7 makes all of that quieter, safer, cleaner … and moot.
SOURCES | IMAGES: Putzmeister; Volvo Trucks.
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This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes an analysis of how the Trump tariffs will affect e-bike pricing in the US, USB-C chargeable e-bikes launched by Ampler, Specialized e-bike recall, Juiced Bikes revived as a brand, kayak camping with the JackRabbit XG Pro, Walkcar’s new device that does the walking for you, and more.
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