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Author Topic: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week  (Read 1237 times)

Motoproponent

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My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« on: October 09, 2024, 04:49:36 AM »

I just found out Enel X-Way North America is ceasing operations in US and Canada. So my two Juice Box EVSE will no longer be supported. Including by the smartphone app that controls it.

The company says it will continue to dispense power like normal but it will lose all connectivity and other features controlled by the app. Like charge schedules and what not. Plus if it breaks I'm now SOL. No support, not troubleshooting, no nothing.

This notice was dated October 4th

https://www.juiceboxnorthamerica.com/
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TheRan

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #1 on: October 09, 2024, 06:57:23 AM »

Seems like a very shitty thing to do when they're going to continue operations in other countries. When someone in Spain could presumably buy the same hardware as you and control it with a local version of the app (it doesn't seem like you can actually purchase anything through their site, or even see prices, you have to make enquires through email) I don't see why you wouldn't be able to do the same just because you're in North America.
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princec

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #2 on: October 09, 2024, 03:09:06 PM »

This is enshittification in action.

Cas :)
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DonTom

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #3 on: October 09, 2024, 09:05:57 PM »

I just found out Enel X-Way North America is ceasing operations in US and Canada. So my two Juice Box EVSE will no longer be supported. Including by the smartphone app that controls it.

The company says it will continue to dispense power like normal but it will lose all connectivity and other features controlled by the app. Like charge schedules and what not. Plus if it breaks I'm now SOL. No support, not troubleshooting, no nothing.

This notice was dated October 4th

https://www.juiceboxnorthamerica.com/
Does this mean those used in the field, such as this one, will no longer work and they should remove it?


-Don-  Reno, NV
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Motoproponent

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #4 on: October 09, 2024, 10:15:56 PM »


Does this mean those used in the field, such as this one, will no longer work and they should remove it?


-Don-  Reno, NV

According to the release, yes. All of their public hardware will no longer have connectivity and will no longer dispense power after Saturday. Privately owned hardware, like my Juice Boxes, will continue to operate but will lose all connected functions. Charge schedules, monitoring and tracking functions, etc will no longer work.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2024, 03:28:41 AM by Motoproponent »
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DonTom

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #5 on: October 09, 2024, 10:58:18 PM »

According to the release, yes. All of their public hardware will no longer have connectivity and will no longer dispense power after Saturday. Privately owned hardware, like my Juice Boxes, will continue to operate but will lose all connected functions. Charge schedules, monitoring and tracking functions, etc will no longer work.
I assume a home one will always be hot and not require any SW. But it sure is a bummer for those out in the field to no longer work.


The one I showed on Plugshare was a very nice location to charge up.   Can have lunch there and eat inside or outside at the picnic tables. I wonder if they will replace the charge stations with something else or if they will just rot away or simply be removed.


BTW, I thought something like this was going on because when I looked at their website, trying to get an RFID card for them, around a month ago, everything they sold was "temporarily out of stock."


-Don-  Reno, NV
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Specter

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2024, 01:24:36 AM »

THIS right here is why I refuse to get any charging bullshit that you HAVE to go thru them to activate.  Like for homes Enphase, you have to go thru them to get your stats, to see how your units are running, etc etc.

and it's FREE......

until it isn't.....
or until they go tits up....

now you are stuck with a steaming turd, but don't worry, Ive been told by many reliable people at the Lightning plant that you CAN pick that turd up by it's clean end and you won't get dirty !!

This is shitty for everyone who has any of their stuff.  Even the home people.  But they can still walk out to their garage and the thing will show them whats up on their front screen right?

aaron
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Motoproponent

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #7 on: October 12, 2024, 03:21:52 AM »

But they can still walk out to their garage and the thing will show them whats up on their front screen right?

aaron

There is no screen on the unit. Just indicator lights. Yellow for "standing by", Green for "dispensing juice", and red for "fault". And a separate blue light to indicate connected to WiFi.

So if I get a red light it's trash because there is no support and no way to get a fault code or anything.

We all (Juicebox Owners and Enel-X commercial customers) got an email saying that theres a third party involved to take over the customer service during the suspension of operations and that they are continuing to support connectivity beyond the initial October 11 date. So it's not a brick just yet, but I don't know how long till they finally pull the plug.
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Curt

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #8 on: October 13, 2024, 12:37:17 PM »

I just uninstalled the Enel X Way off my phone and made my JB40 a dumb charger. I don't want to have anything remotely to do with that company. I can't see how anyone would buy anything from Enel X again after this, especially commercial customers. The first bad sign came right after they acquired JuiceBox, when they deleted the nice functional JB app and replaced it with their own horrible one.
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Specter

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #9 on: October 14, 2024, 07:07:16 AM »

Curt, sadly that is all too common.   A competitor has something they want, so they'll buy up the entire thing, take the one or two items they want and shit can the rest, just trash it, tell everyone,well if you want support then you have to come and use OUR app.

Google does it all the time, it's common practice and yah it totally sucks.

aaron
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Motoproponent

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #10 on: November 06, 2024, 01:37:35 AM »

Still working fine with all the functionality.

I hate it when a company gets me all in a froth and it turns out to be no big deal.
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Curt

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #11 on: November 07, 2024, 07:43:08 AM »

Still working fine with all the functionality.

I hate it when a company gets me all in a froth and it turns out to be no big deal.

The fact that you can say "no big deal" is a result of the customer backlash that you appear to mock.

All of the Enel X Way developers were laid off last month. After having announced with 9-day notice the complete abandonment of 100,000 residential and 25,000 commercial Juicebox customers, including app removal, Enel X had to backtrack. They hired a third party who will maintain the app only -- such as it is. This would require development of specialized software and for someone to visit and re-program each of the commercial stations, so that's obviously not going to happen. It's further complicated by their attempts to auction off remaining assets so we don't know who will end up owning the problem. In my opinion, nobody will, and it's now a dumb charger.
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TheRan

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #12 on: November 07, 2024, 08:35:17 AM »

Does the app actually connect to an external server and is that required for any functionality, or is it just a direct wifi/bluetooth connection? If it's the latter then I don't see why it would ever become a dumb charger as long as you keep the app. Like with the Zero app, even if they go under and remove it from the app store as long as I have it on my phone (or find somewhere else to download it from) then I can continue to connect it to my bike and adjust settings and view info.
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Curt

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #13 on: November 07, 2024, 11:22:06 AM »

Does the app actually connect to an external server and is that required for any functionality, or is it just a direct wifi/bluetooth connection? If it's the latter then I don't see why it would ever become a dumb charger as long as you keep the app. Like with the Zero app, even if they go under and remove it from the app store as long as I have it on my phone (or find somewhere else to download it from) then I can continue to connect it to my bike and adjust settings and view info.

It's Wi-Fi connected to the Internet. I don't believe the app talks to it through the LAN except during discovery. I'd hate to have it set up for time-of-day operation or with power limits, and then have the app stop working. Maybe it could be recovered through a reset button, but I can't see any such button on my P40 unit or in the documentation, and I don't know if it can be used without setup.
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MichaelJ

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Re: My Smart EVSE gets dumb this week
« Reply #14 on: November 07, 2024, 12:59:17 PM »

If it helps, Nikki at Transport Evolved shares how she breathed life back into her JuiceBoxes in this video.  The notes below the video contain links to the tools and grassroots community information that helped implement this solution.
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