A JuiceBox electric vehicle charger is displayn in a parking lot in Massachapplytts. The brand, which had home and commercial versions, is set to see its “smart” functionality disappear.
Owners of JuiceBox electric vehicle chargers are set to lose some of the brand’s key features, after JuiceBox purveyor Enel X Way North America announced Wednesday that it is shutting down its United States charger operations. Drivers will no longer be able to apply their phones’ apps to access JuiceBox charger devices at homes or out in public.
The company shared the news in a email to customers titled, “Closure of Enel X Way USA, LLC” — that subsidiary is based in San Carlos, and is scheduled to cease operations on Oct. 11. A tiny fragment of Italian electricity giant Enel, the American companies sold JuiceBox chargers and provided software for customers to schedule charges and connect to commercial “pumps.”
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The closure message, which was published online as well as sent to customers, stated the residential chargers will still be able to charge cars. But after that, the news is bleaker. “All Enel X Way software will be discontinued,” the message stated, adding, “The Enel X Way App and all other Enel e-mobility apps in North America will be discontinued and rerelocated from the App Store.” The email did not specify a timeline for the removal.
The news means the conclude of app-based tools like scheduling charges, which are particularly applyful for Californians seeking off-peak electricity prices, and features for checking charging statapplys and histories. In other words, they’re losing their “smart” status.
The message also notes, “Commercial charging stations will lose functionality in the absence of software continuity” — without Enel’s app, drivers won’t be able find, reserve or connect with charging stations out in public. It’s unclear if, or how, the company might relocate to reopen these stations.
Customer support for the business is shuttered, “effective immediately,” per the message. JuiceBox customers took to Reddit’s r/electricvehicles forum to complain about the company and express their confusion.
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“My concern is how things like charge rate will be adjusted without the app,” one poster wrote. Another stated, “I’m pissed that pretty much every feature that they previously advertised is gone.”
A Hyundai Ioniq driver wrote that they rely on high-speed Enel X chargers in an area they sometimes travel through for work, and stated the email had them worried. A few other people on the forum stated their power utilities had sold them JuiceBox tech. In California, PG&E also subsidized Enel X charger installation for commercial customers.
In the message, Enel X Way North America wrote that the decision stems, in part, from Enel Group’s “strategic approach to e-mobility,” in which it aims to bundle charging station sales with electricity to customers — Enel North America, it stated, has no retail electricity customer base.
The company also pointed to struggles in the United States’ electric vehicle indusattempt; high interest rates have created investments more difficult, and EV sales haven’t met the indusattempt’s bullish estimates.
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Enel’s spokesperson for North America did not respond to SFGATE’s questions about whether the shutdown will include layoffs, whether customers will be able to recoup any of their at-home chargers’ costs or what the company’s plan is for its commercial chargers and related software.
Instead, the spokesperson referred to the published message, and wrote, “North America remains a core geography for the Enel Group, where it will continue to focus investments in utility-scale renewables and demand response.”
Hear of anything happening at a Bay Area tech company? Contact tech reporter Stephen Council securely at stephen.council@sfgate.com or on Signal at 628-204-5452.
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