Every company has its beginnings, and who better to spill the tea on ENYRING's first steps than our CEO himself, who was part of the pitching process at Yamaha Motor in Japan. 

With this, we are kicking off our blog series, “Inside ENYRING”, where we share perspectives from our team and take a closer look at the various angles of our battery swapping and our service. We sat down with ENYRING CEO Oshiro Hirotsugu to discover how ENYRING's battery swapping service made it from an internal Yamaha Mo. Co. idea to its own start-up in the middle of Berlin and where the name comes from. 

Can we start from the beginning? What were the first steps, and when did it all start? 

Back then, Yamaha Motor asked us to explore new mobility ideas. Around that time, electric two-wheelers with swappable batteries were gaining increasing attention, especially across Asia, and we found that approach interesting. It takes away much of the operational hassle. It helps prevent risks associated to charging and storage of lithium-ion batteries.

In Europe, cycling culture is already deeply rooted and eBikes make up half the bikes sold in Germany and The Netherlands in 2026. At the same time, we identified key pain points such as long charging times and fast battery degradation, similar to electric two-wheelers in Asia. 

Since ENYRING is a subsidiary of Yamaha Motor, the investment process is quite different from a typical start-up. How did you convince Yamaha to back this idea, and what was hardest to sell internally? 

We did not position it as just another idea, but more as something that really fits into Yamaha Motor's overall mobility strategy. From our perspective, battery swapping is the next step in electric mobility, and moving towards a service-based model will be important going forward.

We also made it clear that setting up the project as an independent company would allow us to move faster and work with external partners more easily. The hardest part was definitely getting everyone on board with the shift towards a service model, and just the general uncertainty that comes with building something new that has not proven itself yet.

At the same time, we also started thinking about the name. The idea behind ENYRING is that the battery becomes part of a bigger energy cycle, where it can be reused and recycled in different ways. That is where ENY for energy and RING for the lifecycle come from. The goal is to build a more sustainable loop over time. 

Yamaha Motor is a huge company. What is different about building something like this with that kind of backing compared to starting from scratch?

We definitely benefit from Yamaha's experience, especially when it comes to eBike mobility and setting up the company in the early days. Yamaha actually played a key role in developing and bringing the eBike concept to market globally in the first place, so that kind of experience and pioneering mindset knowledge is something we can really build on.

Being part of Yamaha gives us significant credibility when working with partners, which helps us in a pretty crowded start-up space. But we still operate independently, so we can move fast and stay flexible. It is really about balancing the best of both worlds.

From your perspective, why is now the right moment for introducing battery swapping to the market? 

Right now, a few things are just coming together. Cities like Berlin and Amsterdam are becoming increasingly electric, especially in delivery and shared mobility, and charging is starting to become a real issue. At the same time, batteries are a big cost factor, so managing them separately makes more sense. And then there is the  sustainability aspect, which is becoming more important, especially when it comes to reuse and circularity. So, it is not just an idea anymore; it is becoming a real solution. 

This year, we are focusing on testing our business during the proof of concept phase, starting in September. We already have some exciting partners involved, but it's still top secret. What do you think we need to learn most from this phase, and what will be the biggest challenge? 

The biggest challenge will be scaling this in a stable way. We believe in the concept, but the real test is what happens when more users and more locations come into play. We will need to learn quickly from how people use it and keep improving both the product and how we operate. In the end, it is really about turning those learnings into something that can scale.

Looking back, what was the hardest part of the early days? 

 One of the hardest parts was building the right team. Since this is a mix of hardware, software, and operations, we needed a wide range of skills while still moving fast. We built everything together with different partners without a clear blueprint. Bringing bikes, batteries, stations, the app, and operations into a single system was not exactly simple. And because it is still a new concept, many things only really work once you test them in real life. So, we have been learning and adjusting constantly, and that is still ongoing.

The launch of our product and service is coming closer, and it may be the first time people hear about battery swapping. What is the biggest advantage ENYRING offers?

In my opinion, the biggest advantage of our service is that we treat the battery as infrastructure, effectively removing operational constraints. By eliminating the need for charging and battery management, we simplify day-to-day operations and significantly improve uptime and efficiency. On top of that, we provide an integrated solution that combines batteries, swapping stations, software, and operations, so customers don't have to deal with complexity. They can focus on running their business while benefiting from the system. 

As the service nears launch, we are also about to open a waiting list for those interested in being pioneers in e-mobility and battery management. 

Why is it important to educate people about Battery Swapping before we launch?

Battery swapping is something people should care about because it directly addresses problems that are already happening in cities today. As urban mobility becomes more electrified, operational challenges such as charging time and reduced uptime are becoming increasingly apparent. These are not future issues. They are real constraints today.

Battery handling and storage become more relevant, especially for businesses managing multiple vehicles. Ensuring safety, proper storage conditions, and reliable battery use can quickly become complex and resource-intensive. What we're proposing with battery swapping is a way to solve those challenges. By managing batteries as part of a shared infrastructure, we not only eliminate the need for charging but also assume responsibility for their safe handling and storage. So even at this stage, it's not just about a new idea, but also about getting closer to what we are building behind the scenes.

Joining the waiting list early means you're first in line for what comes next. It signals that you'd like our team to reach out, and it puts you at the front of the queue for test rides and invitations to our pre-launch events. You'll also get the behind-the-scenes insights that help you really understand what ENYRING is about - and a direct point of contact from day one, so exploring how it could fit into your operations later on becomes a natural next step rather than a cold start. 

Thank you, Hiro, for sharing these insights and explaining the founding story, your vision and why it already makes sense for companies to get involved early.