While electric passenger vehicles have taken off, especially in recent years, the same hasn't been true of electric motorbikes. There are multiple reasons for this, but two of the biggest problems are the twin issues of energy density and range anxiety. Swappable batteries are one potential solution, but to make it work, you also need to build out a robust supporting infrastructure.
That's why it's encouraging to see a company like Yamaha Motor dive in headfirst. In addition to being part of both the Gachaco battery swapping company in Japan and the Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium (SBMC) in Europe, it just announced that it's creating an entire new company in Europe to deal with battery swapping for what it describes as "compact urban electric vehicles via subscription-based services."
The new company is called Enyring. Its name sounds like a shortened form of "energy ring," which makes sense as a descriptor for what Yamaha says the new company will do.
On one hand, it will offer swappable batteries and subscription services for those batteries to users. On the other, it will also cooperate with other European leaders in recycling to reuse the spent batteries, thus creating what it refers to as a closed loop system that relies on recycled materials as valued resources for the next generation of products. Energy Ring.
Enyring's headquarters will be based in Berlin, Germany. While it's now been officially established as of December 2023 as an entity, Yamaha says that operations won't likely start until sometime in the first half of 2025. A future operation in the Netherlands is also planned, with additional growth likely down the line.
Enyring will serve low-speed compact urban electric vehicles, and will mainly concentrate on the e-bike space. Swappable battery stations will be installed throughout cities where the company operates, so that subscribers can easily stop and swap their batteries and then go on about their business.
It's not clear at this point whether Enyring will go on to add similar services for other low-speed electric vehicles, such as the Yamaha NEO's. The Yamaha E01 doesn't use swappable batteries, but other similar urban commuter vehicles could certainly benefit from a swappable battery system like the one that Enyring is proposing.
Even if Enyring stays strictly in the e-bike lane, establishing a swappable battery infrastructure like this would be meaningful for the advancement of other similar systems for other two-wheeled electrics in the future.
Since it's initially focusing on e-bikes, plans for locations in Berlin and the Netherlands make a whole lot of sense. Both Berlin and Amsterdam are cities where cycling is already well established and popular among a broad cross-section of the population, so it seems like a natural fit.
