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Enel X JuiceBox 48 EV Charging Station Review
A solid choice for a mid-powered Level 2 home EV charger
Table of Contents:
Those familiar with JuiceBox will know that it’s always been a pioneer in the realm of EV charging, providing features like WiFi and real-time charging data before many of its competitors. Since then, ownership of JuiceBox has changed hands from eMotorWerks to Enel, and it left many of us wondering just how the second-generation version of this charging unit would fare in today’s market.
While the Enel-X JuiceBox is available in 32, 40, and 48-amp versions, they remain identical outside of the power output. Our “Ultimate Review” was completed using the 48-amp version. The new JuiceBox has all of the smart-charging features of the original plus a few more, as well as an integrated connector holster and cable management loop.
Key Specs of the Enel X JuiceBox 48
Misses
Installing the Enel X Juicebox 48 is rather simple– you can attach a mounting plate to the wall with a couple of screws, making sure to do that along a stud so that it’s stable. It’s a heavy unit, and with the cable wrapped around it and regular jostling as you use the charger, you want to make sure that it’s secured very well. This particular version of the JuiceBox is hardwired, meaning that you’ll likely want to hire a licensed and bonded electrician to safely install it. If you choose to go with the version that comes with a NEMA 14-50 plug, you can easily plug it into your available electric outlet instead.
Once you’ve got the mounting plate on the wall, you can slide the unit into the grooves and snap it down until it locks into place. Crave more security? There’s also a locking system with a key to lock your unit into place and prevent theft, a feature that’s not offered by many other EV chargers!
The Juicebox’s smart charging features are where this unit really shines. The JuicePass app allows you to access public, workplace, and home charging all in one place. It also adjusts the power output so that you can use the Juicebox on a circuit that’s less than 60-amps if that’s all you have available. Finally, it comes with Amazon Alexa and Google Home compatibility, as well as the ability to participate in utility demand response programs.
Another great feature of the Enel X JuiceBox 48 is the fact that it can power share with other units on the same circuit. That way, you can charge two vehicles on two separate JuiceBoxes, and the units will communicate with each other to make sure that the circuit doesn’t get overloaded, avoiding the need to install a second circuit.
The Juicebox also comes with an integrated connector holster and cable management loop. Prefer a remote holster and cable hook? You might want to check out this one to use instead.
Testing
Live in a place where the temperatures drop well below freezing? Then a big concern for you might be how well your EV charger’s cable holds up when that brutal cold hits. Thankfully, we here at EVChargingStations put charging units through rigorous testing to find out– so you don’t have to!
The Cable Deep Freeze Test
Our tests involve putting an EV charging unit into a commercial ice cream freezer for over 14 hours to simulate how its cables might react to being frozen overnight in sub-zero temperatures. When we finally removed the Enel X Juicebox 48 from its chilly prison, the interior temperature measured at -9.7° F. It felt really stiff when being picked up, and we could quickly see that it was really bad; in fact, it was one of the worst cables we’ve ever tested for cold weather. It was completely unmanageable, and we can’t fathom trying to use it to charge a vehicle in such a state.
If you are looking for an EV charger whose cable does well in more extreme weather, we’d have to recommend the ChargePoint Home Flex over this one.
After averaging the ChargerRater score with my personal score of 4.75 out of 5 stars, the Enel X Juicebox 48 came away with a final score of 4.525 stars out of 5. It’s a well-built and dependable EV charger that we have no problems recommending.
The Enel X JuiceBox 48 is available from Amazon starting at $689, though at our last check, it had a $70 coupon available. Watch our full review and then leave us a comment with your thoughts below.
By: Tom Moloughney
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Product is not found on their website
Thanks. We’ll reach out to Enel X to find out why.
Hello Tom, I bought an Enel Juice Box 40amp in 2021. I had an electrician in stall a dedicated 40 amp circuit. I’ve been using the charger since last Nov 2022 when I my FORD Mach e arrived. Love the car and the charger. My issue of late is the power cord from the charger to the outlet gets hot to the touch. I can keep my hand on the plug so it isn’t burning my hand hot. Is this normal? Enel Pass is the latest charging app, I installed the app a few months ago in FEB. I first notice the plug getting hot after I started to use the new app. I check on the app and noticed it was drawing 40 amps. I lower the amp setting using the Enel app from 40 to 35 amps and then lowered again today to 32amp. However the plug is still hot to the touch and the cable to the car is warm. Any ideas?
Just to be clear, are you sure it’s on a 40-amp circuit? A 40-amp charger needs to be installed on a dedicated 50-amp circuit, as you can only draw 80% of the circuit’s maximum allowable load. If you do have a 40-amp circuit breaker and wiring for a 40-amp circuit, that shouldn’t cause this problem, but it is actually a bigger issue and you would need to lower the charger’s power delivery to 32-amps or lower.
It’s really hard for me to tell you if you have a problem or diagnose it. How hot is too hot? If it’s pretty warm, that’s probably OK because the cable will get warm, but if it’s really hot, then that’s not OK. At the very least, I would shut off the circuit breaker and open up the outlet to check if all of the wires are torqued properly and aren’t loose. Did you hire an electrician to install the outlet? If so. I’d call him back to check the outlet and make sure it’s OK because this could be a small issue or it could be a big problem that just waiting to happen.
We purchased two 48 amp Juiceboxes for private use by our employees. They were installed by an electrician with 60 amp circuit breakers.
These boxes deliver up to 47 amps when not using the software. When using the Enel-X software that is recommended by the company (Enel X Way), the chargers will only deliver 40 amps (actually 39). This looks like poor programming by Enel-X in that the app sets the charging limit but does not allow one to set a higher limit than 40 amps.
You mentioned a problem with power failure restart on some cars. JuiceBox recently change the software and firmware on their units and the iOS app. As a result I had problems charging. In my situation I was mounting the JB40 , plugging it into the 240 V 50 A supply and then immediately plugging it into my 2023 ID.4. The green light on the ID4 would indicate charging, but within a few minutes the ID4 would show Red on the charge indicator and it would fail to charge and not remotely restart. This was not a problem with the earlier app & firmware.
I believe the problem is caused by the increased startup time of the JB40 and a timeout condition on my ID4. the current JB40 system takes over two minutes to boot up from a power failure (or plug in). I believe the ID4 has a 2 minute time out from J1772 connection (and probably low voltage signaling) and application of 240 volt power. You may want to check the cars that fail to restart for a similar timeout condition.
There are recent, serious problems with the Enel X Way app that manages the JuiceBox EVSEs that should give any one pause when considering this product.
I had been using this product with absolutely no problems for several years. Then I was migrated to their new app, Enel X Way, in late September. I’ve been going back and forth with customer support for over three weeks now.
My system has two Juiceboxes on a load-sharing circuit. Enel X Way broke load-sharing, but a technical fix has at lease partially addressed this. However, I still cannot charge either my Tesla Model Y or my VW e-Golf via a timed event, either initiated from the car or via TOU on the Juiceboxes.
Sure, the EVSE works as a dumb charger, but virtually all other functionality is broken until they fix their software.
I’ve had the same experience. App worked fine (not without bugs, but workable) until forced switch to Enel X Way. Disaster since then. Goes on and off line randomly, doesn’t show my history, smart charging sometimes works but mostly doesn’t. I too wish I’s chosen a different charger. The new app’s software is not intuitive or easy to work for people without a degree in computer science. Help is polite but asks questions I can’t answer, e.g, Is your router a dual band router?
Does the network you connect to use band steering?
Does your Juice Box connect to a network that is on the 2.4 GHz, 5GHz, or both?
Do you use a wi-fi extender or a mesh network?
How far is your Juice Box from the router?
Do you have a fire wall, mac filtering, or ports blocked on your network?
I was an English major. I have no clue what Comcast gave me. I just want a user friendly app to charge cheaply at night.
I share the concerns others are expressing that once Enel X software came out he charger is basically a dumb charger. I can’t get the schedule functionality to work at all. When I try using the schedule functionality the car doesn’t end up getting charged. When I turn it off and use the scheduler in the call, it charges fine. The customer service has gone from excellent to I now think I have a chat bot responding to me. Somehow they think it is my car having an issue.