Enel X Way's JuiceBox EV Chargers About To Lose All Connectivity Features (electrek.co) 9
New submitter ae4ax writes: North American buyers of JuiceBox EVSEs (chargers) received an email today declaring the imminent closure of Enel X Way USA, LLC, the maintainers of the software infrastructure behind their EVSEs. Customer support has already shut down, and apps will be deactivated and removed by October 11, 2024. The company claims economic headwinds from lackluster EV sales and high interest rates as the motivation for the closure. Enel X Way properties outside North America are not affected, they say. "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 company said in a statement. "The appointed firm will be responsible for managing the remaining obligations and communicating directly with customers and partners regarding the closure."
Customers will still be able to charge vehicles but all their connectivity features -- the Enel X Way app and all other Enel e-mobility apps in North America -- will stop working. Commercial charging stations will also lose functionality. "So If you own a JuiceBox, you just got nine days' warning that your home charger can no longer be configured," reports Electrek.
Electrek's Michael Bower, who uses a JuiceBox to charge his Chevy Bolt, said: "I'm disappointed that Enel X Way is removing their apps -- and thus the ability to change the amperage -- for their EVSEs. I live in a condo with a 100A panel, so the ability to lower the amperage from 40 to 32 or 16 was beneficial when charging my EV while drawing power for laundry or the central A/C in the summer. It just shows how 'smart' EVSEs are too reliant on their respective apps."
Customers will still be able to charge vehicles but all their connectivity features -- the Enel X Way app and all other Enel e-mobility apps in North America -- will stop working. Commercial charging stations will also lose functionality. "So If you own a JuiceBox, you just got nine days' warning that your home charger can no longer be configured," reports Electrek.
Electrek's Michael Bower, who uses a JuiceBox to charge his Chevy Bolt, said: "I'm disappointed that Enel X Way is removing their apps -- and thus the ability to change the amperage -- for their EVSEs. I live in a condo with a 100A panel, so the ability to lower the amperage from 40 to 32 or 16 was beneficial when charging my EV while drawing power for laundry or the central A/C in the summer. It just shows how 'smart' EVSEs are too reliant on their respective apps."
Dumb chargers are the way to go (Score:2)
I have two dumb, L2 chargers in the garage, a Bosch and a GE. No support? No problem. They just work.\
Online peeps with JuiceBox? SOL!
Friend with a ChargePoint? Issues!
Let your car manage the complicated stuff. Let the charger simply respond to the car. No app, no problem.
Re:Dumb chargers are the way to go (Score:5, Insightful)
There are reasons for the charger to be smart, as well, but what's reported in the story is not a smart charger. Well, it is "their" (seller's) type of smart, not "our" (customer's) type of smart.
The "smart" smart stuff can work locally through, say, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, not to mention other protocols which are not as well known to the general population (Z-Wave, Matter, etc). It should be easily integrated with your favorite home automation software, if you have one, or just your mobile device if that's how you roll.
Cloud connectivity, central management and all that crap should be optional and not mandatory when setting the device up.
Therefore, I have no problem with smart devices, but I do have a problem with "seller has full control, customer, not so much" smart device approach.
Re: (Score:2)
Also a good reason for "smart" EVSEs, in my opinion? Grid interactivity.
In my case, since I have a Chargepoint that can be configured to upload usage data, I took an extra step to register my unit with the electric company. If I restrict charging to an 11PM-6AM window I get that electricity 30% cheaper.
The utility also gets data that helps them plan for the future as EVs become more common.
And yes, the unit works just fine without any of that. If it loses all connectivity it just behaves like a dumb EVSE.
=S
BS (Score:5, Informative)
> "It just shows how 'smart' EVSEs are too reliant on their respective apps."
No, it shows how they are too reliant on their hard-coded servers. With proper standards and local APIs, this would not be an issue.
Re: (Score:2)
It shows how poor consumer protection laws are in the US.
If this happened in the UK you would be due at least a partial refund. The percentage you get back depends on how long you have owned it and how long you would expect it to reasonably last. So say a reasonable lifespan would be 15 years, and you have owned it for 5 years, and the substantial loss of functionality means you will have to replace it as it is no longer fit for purpose, you would expect a 66.6% refund.
The refund comes from the place you bo
Open source all the failures (Score:5, Insightful)
There should be a law that such failing manufacturers should open source their software platform.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: Open source all the failures (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You should just avoid buying stuff where the API isn't open from the start.
Whenever buying anything smart, always google "[name] home assistant" to see if there is an integration that doesn't rely on cloud servers. If there isn't, buy something else.
Holy crap how is this real? (Score:5, Interesting)
An electrical system installed in a house which requires you to manually configure a limit to prevent you overloading your main breaker? Why not use ... actual hardware to do that and adjust load dynamically. Shit the water heater under my kitchen sink has that capability.
Also my car has the ability to define the charging limit, is this not normal? If so just use your car app if you bought one of these cheap arse poorly designed chargers and need to limit your charging to 16A because you want to run the AC.