Beyond Circular Wheels

Electric motorcycles (e-motos) are widely promoted as artifacts of sustainable transition, yet their formal and material languages frequently reproduce the aesthetic logics of fossil-fuel predecessors. Although hub motors, compact batteries, and simplified drivetrains remove many spatial constraints of combustion engines, most contemporary models retain inherited silhouettes and plastic enclosures that obscure their technological transformation. This study investigates e-motos as designed objects, examining how sustainability is materially articulated—or visually concealed—through visual and material design features, construction logic, and structural configuration. Drawing on Jean-Marie Floch’s valorization modes, the Greimasian semiotic square, and Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the article analyzes four urban models—NIU NQi, BMW CE 04, CAKE Ösa, and Stilride SUS1—to reveal how ecological values are embedded within frame exposure, modular construction, enclosure strategies, and material legibility. By contrasting engineering thinking—associated with enclosure, efficiency, and industrial continuity—with bricolage thinking—characterized by modularity, exposure, and repairability—the research exposes tensions between technological innovation and symbolic inertia. The findings suggest that sustainable mobility cannot rely solely on emission reduction; it must also engage aesthetic and material transparency, enabling users to perceive and participate in circular practice. In this sense, the e-moto becomes not only a vehicle, but a cultural artifact through which new ecological narratives are materially enacted.