ENEL X Way Leaving North America

[r553]

​ ​ ​ I just got this email. Merry Christmas Dear Enel X Way USA, LLC Stakeholder, After careful consideration, Enel X Way North America has decided to close its electric mobility business in the US and Canada, operated by the local subsidiary of Enel X Way USA, effective October 11, 2024. An experienced third-party firm will be appointed to manage the company’s affairs and ensure that the closure is handled with the utmost care and professionalism. The appointed firm will be responsible for managing the remaining obligations and communicating directly with customers and partners regarding the closure. This decision is in line with the Enel Group’s strategic approach to e-mobility that pursues further growth by providing bundled offers, including private charging solutions, to its electricity customers as well as by developing public charging infrastructure in countries where it has an electricity retail business. By contrast, Enel North America has no retail electricity customer base and was active in the e-mobility segment only through the sale of charging hardware and software. Additionally, the dynamics of the EV market in the US have changed quite a lot in the last year and, like many other companies, Enel X Way North America has been impacted by high interest rates which have increased the cost of scaling the charging infrastructure business in a framework of sustained uncertainty where EV sales growth expectations have not been met. Here’s what you need to know: Residential charging hardware (JuiceBox) will maintain the physical operating ability to charge vehicles. All Enel X Way software will be discontinued. Commercial charging stations will lose functionality in the absence of software continuity. The Enel X Way App and all other Enel e-mobility apps in North America will be discontinued and removed from the App Store. Enel X Way customer support is no longer available, effective immediately. Any Enel X Way related questions and claims should be directed to juiceboxnorthamerica.com. The decision to close Enel X Way USA, LLC and related impacts do not apply to Enel X Way customers in other countries outside of the U.S. and Canada. Enel X Way North America understands that its decision has implications for those who had chosen its charging solutions. Inquiries regarding any outstanding matters, including customer accounts, orders, or obligations, can be directed to juiceboxnorthamerica.com. North America remains a core geography for the Enel Group, where it will continue to focus investments in utility-scale renewables and demand response. • • • This message is for informational purposes only. Replies are not monitored. ​ ​

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[Tooney]

I don't understand. What does this mean?

 

[Jonathan S.]

I don't understand. What does this mean?

From a consumer viewpoint: all support is discontinued for JuiceBox and the associated app.
Can't even download the app now. And the website no longer exists (even for something like downloading a user manual.)

Any JuiceBox and app installations will continue to work on their own.
But if you (e.g., I) need any support, you are (e.g., I am) on your (/my) own.
(Sure glad I've never used the JuiceBox app for anything every since installing the 48a unit in spring of last year, and that I went with a Tesla Universal Wall Charger -- thanks in part to the praise of it by @daveo4EV -- for our second home this spring.)

 

[Tooney]

Does this affect the J+ Booster portable chargers shown here: https://jplusbooster.com/ ?
They apparently are manufactured by the Juice Group of Switzerland.

 

[rmarchigiani]

So my Juicebox will continue to work at home, but I have no support? So, if my Juicebox sh*ts the bed, I am out of luck?

I never used the app either. How frustrating.

 

[Jonathan S.]

So my Juicebox will continue to work at home, but I have no support? So, if my Juicebox sh*ts the bed, I am out of luck?

I never used the app either. How frustrating.

Exactly.

I was curious about some comments I read elsewhere praising JuiceBox but denigrating Enel.
Turns out this is almost exactly the seventh-year anniversary of the acquisition of the JuiceBox product line (previously a California company) by Enel, a large energy company (59th in the world by revenue among all companies in any industry, and recently the second-largest electric utility on the world as ranked by revenue), previously the Italian national public electrical utility, and still almost one-quarter owned by the Italian gov't.

 

[Jonathan S.]

Does this affect the J+ Booster portable chargers shown here: https://jplusbooster.com/ ?
They apparently are manufactured by the Juice Group of Switzerland.

Totally different company.
The "Juice" is just a coincidence.
(And perhaps the subject of various IP threats!)

 

[Tooney]

Totally different company.
The "Juice" is just a coincidence.
(And perhaps the subject of various IP threats!)

Just to be clear, JuiceBox chargers have nothing to do with Swiss Juice Group?

 

[Jonathan S.]

Just to be clear, JuiceBox chargers have nothing to do with Swiss Juice Group?

Confirmed.

And one of the members of their four-person board is a former Porsche executive:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christoph-gümbel-95390611b/?originalSubdomain=de

 

[Tooney]

And one of the members of their four-person board is a former Porsche executive:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christoph-gümbel-95390611b/?originalSubdomain=de

He isn't just a futurist. He's a senior futurist.

 

[Jonathan S.]

He isn't just a futurist. He's a senior futurist.

I think that self-anointed title could benefit from some clarification as to whether he is a more experienced futurist, a more elderly futurist, or a futurist who focuses on the future of/for the elderly.
(Brings back amusing memories of how my historian father had a colleague who taught a highly popular course on History Of The Future: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Short_History_of_the_Future "The first version imagined a far more prominent role for the Soviet Union, which collapsed shortly after the publication.")

 

[daveo4EV]

So my Juicebox will continue to work at home, but I have no support? So, if my Juicebox sh*ts the bed, I am out of luck?

I never used the app either. How frustrating.

no it just means you spend $600 on a charge point flex or tesla universal wall charger and move on

EVSE are pretty simple it could work a decade or more and never have an issue

just replace it when it breaks

 

[j.w.s]

​ ​ ​ I just got this email. Merry Christmas Dear Enel X Way USA, LLC Stakeholder, After careful consideration, Enel X Way North America has decided to close its electric mobility business in the US and Canada, operated by the local subsidiary of Enel X Way USA, effective October 11, 2024. An experienced third-party firm will be appointed to manage the company’s affairs and ensure that the closure is handled with the utmost care and professionalism. The appointed firm will be responsible for managing the remaining obligations and communicating directly with customers and partners regarding the closure. This decision is in line with the Enel Group’s strategic approach to e-mobility that pursues further growth by providing bundled offers, including private charging solutions, to its electricity customers as well as by developing public charging infrastructure in countries where it has an electricity retail business. By contrast, Enel North America has no retail electricity customer base and was active in the e-mobility segment only through the sale of charging hardware and software. Additionally, the dynamics of the EV market in the US have changed quite a lot in the last year and, like many other companies, Enel X Way North America has been impacted by high interest rates which have increased the cost of scaling the charging infrastructure business in a framework of sustained uncertainty where EV sales growth expectations have not been met. Here’s what you need to know: Residential charging hardware (JuiceBox) will maintain the physical operating ability to charge vehicles. All Enel X Way software will be discontinued. Commercial charging stations will lose functionality in the absence of software continuity. The Enel X Way App and all other Enel e-mobility apps in North America will be discontinued and removed from the App Store. Enel X Way customer support is no longer available, effective immediately. Any Enel X Way related questions and claims should be directed to juiceboxnorthamerica.com. The decision to close Enel X Way USA, LLC and related impacts do not apply to Enel X Way customers in other countries outside of the U.S. and Canada. Enel X Way North America understands that its decision has implications for those who had chosen its charging solutions. Inquiries regarding any outstanding matters, including customer accounts, orders, or obligations, can be directed to juiceboxnorthamerica.com. North America remains a core geography for the Enel Group, where it will continue to focus investments in utility-scale renewables and demand response. • • • This message is for informational purposes only. Replies are not monitored. ​ ​

Given that I own two of these, this really sucks. And it's a surprise given that Juicebox was a respected EVSE.

 

[eisenb11]

So based on what I read in another forum, this isn't a big deal if you don't use any features and just plug it in and charge. If so, just use it until it breaks then toss it and buy something like a Tesla Universal.

But... if you're doing scheduled charging through the charger, you're SOL. Also, apparently, if you need to use the app to down-rate your charger if it can pull more than your electrical service or up-rate it if you later upgrade service you're also SOL. And, apparently, if you have more than one of these - they communicate with each other to manage what happens when 2 cars are plugged in at the same time and you're SOL in that scenario too.

I also heard that they had a 3rd party API so that was a potential path forward for people but that got nerfed in a recent update so that path is now gone too.

 

[Tooney]

If You Own an Enel X JuiceBox in North America, You Need to Watch This! | The Ioniq Guy

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