Enel X Juicebox masterclass on screwing EV drivers

On October 2, Enel X posted the following announcement that said:

"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."

Giving its customers, EV drivers, distributors 9 days to figure out a new solution. 9 DAYS!

and then:

"Inquiries regarding any outstanding matters, including customer accounts, orders, or obligations, can be directed in the coming days to the claims information page (available soon)."

COMING SOON?!!!!! You make an announcement, give everyone who is relying on you 9 days to find a new solution, and then you don't even have a f&*$&%ng information page up?!!!

But wait! There's more!

"Enel X Way customer support is no longer available, effective immediately. Any Enel X Way related questions and claims should be directed in the coming days?to the claims information page (available soon)."

CUSTOMER SUPPORT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.

At some point, you have to wonder what EV drivers did to hurt the management at Enel X ? The amount of disrespect they are showing could only be explained by pure disdain for North American EV drivers.

The picture above is actually taken from a commercial project that Sona Energy Solutions installed for a multifamily property. We chose Juicebox because they were one of 2 vendors on MD incentive program at the time. Unfortunately, some of the units have never worked properly due to poor technical design and customer support from Enel, and I'm only blasting this now because of - well, the above.... but it's been extremely frustrating.

But what's even more frustrating is:

"All Enel X Way software will be discontinued. Commercial charging stations will lose functionality in the absence of software continuity."

All our time and efforts have been wasted because the software is just vanishing. Now, they say " in the absence of software continuity". And if you're an EV Charging nerd you've seen other networks advertising that they can come help and get their EV Charge Point Management Systems (CPMS) on the Juicebox....and proceed with caution.

If you are going to go this route, try it on one first as a pilot, get some performance guarantees, and have the CPMS company handle all integration work (and they can include that in the quote). Because do you want your resources spending 20+ hours trying to troubleshoot when one half the troubleshooting team (the hardware supplier) has vanished?

My recommendation, and I what I'm telling our customers, is to rip and replace. Get the Juicebox's out, put in something from a hardware vendor who respects partners and EV drivers, make sure that hardware has the ability and track record of working with several CPMS companies and then choose the appropriate network.

And it's not just commercial chargers, many EV drivers have these units as their residential chargers. As InsideEVs points out :

"Losing app access means owners give up the ability to schedule, set and monitor home charging, see energy use and other remote features. These were major selling points for the JuiceBox charger—and indeed, any decent home EV charger—and they're now completely gone. As the company's statement noted, commercial charging stations will be entirely offline as well."

I'm not done yet.

Let's dig in a bit more because this isn't a startup that ran out of money and couldn't find an investor...that at least is a bit understandable because that's the nature of startups and the energy business is very challenging and I get that. Enel is FAR from a startup...it's a 60 year old company!

Juicebox (eMotorWerks) was aquired by Enernoc/Enel X in 2017 , Enel X is owned by Enel Group, an Italian utility giant, Enel Group is "the 59th largest company in the world by revenue, with $147.79 billion in 2023. "

If you have revenues approaching $150 billion, and you shut down your product with about 1 week's notice before core functionality goes dark, the only explanation that arises out of the vacuum created by vacuous corporate communication, is disdain for North American EV drivers. Because a company that respects its partners and customers would never do this.

Customers who have Juicebox chargers and need help, shoot me a message and we'll figure out how to rip and replace.

Enel Group or Enel X , if you'd like to clear your name and reputation, I'm happy to update this post with an appropriate response.