Listen, I want to believe in electric motorbikes. I really do.
I think they have great potential and can be both fun and useful. I loved the heck out of the Ubco 2x2 I got to try a couple of years ago, and was honestly a little bit envious when they released the 2x2 Special Edition, with so much tidy utility and places to put your EDC for a short commute that just learning it existed was a very pleasing thing.
But for a number of reasons, not the least of which is our incredibly slapdash and piecemeal approach to infrastructure, if you're going to want an EV motorbike to do more than be a limited-range runabout, they're hard to justify as all-rounders in 2024.
Please note, I am speaking very specifically about EV motorbike life in the US, not anywhere else.
Also, I'm writing this the day after doing a 300-mile ride on my piston-powered Triumph Street Triple R. Could I have done it on the Zero SR/F I had on loan a while back? Maybe, depending on whether I could have found working L2 chargers where I needed them.
But there's no denying that even if compatible charger locations were conveniently located, it would've taken much longer. Honestly, who has time for that if you're just taking a quick, fun weekend jaunt and aren't planning to stay somewhere overnight?
That's also assuming that some hinky company acquisitional situation hadn't happened to my chosen charging stop, like the incredibly frustrating situation I encountered after Shell bought Volta and stuck me in a broken app loop with no way to charge, at a station I'd previously had no trouble charging at.
Those experiences combined are what led me to sigh the beleaguered sigh of a thousand eye-rolling Ben Afflecks as I learned about what Enel X Way just did to its US and Canadian customers. And then started yelling as I read more about what happened, as well as how it would and wouldn't work for customers.
One other important thing to note: Some publications have written that Enel X has exited the North American market. Since Mexico still shows active charging stations, and since Enel X's announcement specifically only calls out an exit of the US and Canadian markets, that's clearly not the case.
Granted, the confusion is likely in no small part caused by the URL of the official JuiceBox North America website, which uses "North America" in the URL even though it only ever covered the US and Canada. But I digress. Geography. Learn it.
Back on track, the upshot is that Enel X Way North America announced its impending closure in the US and Canada on October 4. Rather than give much in the way of warning, it said this closure would be effective on October 11. Folks, that's one week's notice.
For those unfamiliar with Enel X Way's JuiceBox EV chargers, there are two streams: one that consumers can purchase for home use, through regular retailers like Home Depot or Amazon. There are also commercial chargers.
If you're a home user, the touted benefits of JuiceBox chargers include things like load balancing, scheduled charging, and monitoring charging status and history, all via an app. In other words, pretty standard connected device stuff that's meant to make your life easier and help you live in the data-optimized future you dreamed of. Maybe.
But both the app and the proprietary software that the commercial chargers rely on to operate will no longer work in the US and Canada after October 11. According to the official message now displayed on the JuiceBox North America website, this is a strategic decision made by Enel Group to focus its efforts on other international markets where it already has a retail electricity customer base.
Since that's not the case in the US and Canada, it's "so long, farewell!" for our markets.
The official announcement goes on to give some reasons for this decision. This part reads, "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."
It goes on to mention that inquiries regarding outstanding business (accounts, orders, etc.) can, in the future, likely find answers on a claims information page that it says is "available soon." So, a page that doesn't currently exist yet, and might never exist. Helpful.
Further notes state that JuiceBox residential hardware will physically be able to operate. Users simply won't be able to use the app. Additionally, all Enel X Way software, apps, and any other Enel e-mobility apps in the US and Canada will no longer work, and will be removed from their respective app stores.
Effective as of October 4, when the notice went live and also landed in customer inboxes according to reports, Enel X Way customer support has already been discontinued. In other words, there was never a plan in place for it to continue even through October 11, to guide existing customers through the already-short transition period.
The final statements in the official notice clarify that none of this information applies to Enel X Way customers outside the US and Canada, and advises that those seeking additional information can contact claimsagent@tplc-claims.com.
A visit to the TPLC Claims website shows a simple design with text links to claims for a number of companies that are presumably in the same situation as Enel X Way is in the US. At the time of writing, a link for Enel X Way North America, JuiceBox, or any variation thereof does not exist.
If you go back through EV Charging Reddit, you'll find users and former employees discussing their perceptions that the app wasn't very good to begin with, and that things got worse after Enel bought eMotorWerks, the company that previously owned JuiceBox. This happened back in 2017, and while a certain amount of growing pains are to be expected, that's also when customer support allegedly started to go noticeably downhill.
In the wake of the JuiceBox US and Canadian support shutdown news, absolute credit has to be given to various members of the EV charging community. They've already banded together on a project called Juice Rescue, an open source software project (and associated Discord server) with the goal of keeping JuiceBoxes operational even if Enel X Way no longer supports them.
If you're a developer, programmer, writer, or other person with specialized skills who wants to contribute, they're looking for volunteers. But even if you're simply a person with a JuiceBox interest who needs help figuring out what to do next, they're also working to try to support you, simply because Enel X Way won't.
It's both impressive and inspiring, in the midst of an incredibly frustrating situation. But the fact remains that all those volunteering their time, talent, and expertise to keep this hardware and software from becoming so much e-detritus because a company chose to cut and run, leaving its former customers high and dry, are the heroes here. Still, they shouldn't have to be.
What makes it particularly frustrating is that this isn't a case where a company went under, so its products are suddenly no longer supported.
Instead, this is a deliberate choice that Enel X Way has made.
Could they have done more to support their customers while still having an exit of the market as their end goal? Sure.
Did they? No, because there's absolutely no reason for them to do so. There aren't protections in place to either incentivize not behaving like this, nor to threaten significant (enough) legal repercussions if you do.
And so, numbers on a spreadsheet win, and former customers are once again left out to dry. It's enough to give you serious trust issues even if you've never had them before. And if you already did, well, it'll only reinforce them to the nth degree.
Companies like these are only too happy to remind you that they owe you absolutely nothing that isn't both legally required and enforced by whatever authoritative apparatus exists in your corner of the world.
