NORTH ADAMS — Residents may have noticed the husks of what used to be electric vehicle charging ports are now wrapped with vines — de facto plant trellises rather than EV infrastructure.

The 10 charging ports on city property are not functional, and haven't worked since late 2024, said Marya Kozik, the city's director of economic and community development.

Now, they are sitting unused until the city figures out how to revive or replace them.

A nonfunctioning Enel-X Juicebox electric vehicle charging station for electric cars in the Center Street parking lot in North Adams.

North Adams installed four JuiceBox electric vehicle charging stations at City Hall and six at the Center Street parking lot in early 2022. The stations, manufactured by Italian energy company Enel X, were funded through an $85,362 state grant aimed at expanding electric vehicles charging access across Massachusetts.

But in October of 2024, Enel-X announced it was exiting the North American market, leaving thousands of customers with its JuiceBoxes, including North Adams and Stockbridge, scrambling to find alternative software management providers to service the stations.

Kozik described the situation as a stroke of bad luck.

When the city received the grant in 2021, EV infrastructure was booming, and there were numerous companies the city could have chosen. They had the misfortune to select an international firm which later chose to leave the U.S. market.

The chargers are a product of the Italian energy company Enel Group, which cited changing EV market conditions, high interest rates and slower-than-expected EV adoption as its reasons for exiting North America.

Nonfunctioning car charging stations for electric cars in the North Adams City Hall parking lot. Until EV company Enel-X closed North American operations, the level 2, or medium speed charging ports allowed the city to manage pricing and charge users for overstaying.

The Level 2, or medium speed charging ports, made by Enel-X, worked great for the city, Kozik said. The software also allowed the city to manage pricing and charge users for overstaying.

Without a software provider, the stations could still be used as "dumb" chargers for personal use, but cities or businesses could not charge customers for using them, severely affecting their commercial viability.

By the end of 2024, North Adams found a new software provider, Red E, and successfully brought the chargers back online.

But trouble struck again just a couple months later when Kozik said Red E informed the city that Enel-X had locked down its cellular stations after it was sold to another company.

“And then we were back to the same situation again,” Kozik said.

Red E told city officials that the challenges were not their fault, "but the result of actions by Enel-X and its asset management company following the shutdown."

“This included server shutdowns and, unfortunately, without permission, erased critical network data from many units, severing their connection to all external backend systems,” an email read.

Red E’s email said it was trying to resolve further complications “stemming from Enel” including revenue collection due to incorrect data messages originating from their server.

The only guaranteed way to fully restore functionality and make money would be a total hardware replacement, the email said.

A car parked at North Adams City Hall in front of a nonfunctioning Enel-X Juicebox electrical vehicle charging station.

By then, the chargers were nearing the end of their useful life and the cellular-based units were increasingly incompatible with newer Wi-Fi technology, Kozik said.

The city consulted multiple vendors and the resounding recommendation was a full replacement.

Meanwhile, the national push toward electrification was losing momentum. Congress eliminated many EV tax credits and incentives created under the Inflation Reduction Act last year, and the EPA, under President Donald Trump, later rescinded several greenhouse gas emissions standards for automobiles.

For cities like North Adams, this shifting landscape has added uncertainty as officials weigh future investments in charging infrastructure.

For the last year, North Adams has been searching for a new vendor, preferably one with a stronger foothold in the U.S. market, while also trying to secure state incentives or grants to pay for replacement chargers, Kozik said.

The city is also reevaluating its EV charging strategy, including whether to install Level 2 or DC fast chargers at more accessible locations.

Kozik said that locations being explored for feasibility of new stations include Heritage State Park and the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Skating Rink.