On one hand they can be innovative in that you don't just have to buy a whole new bike, there a loads of kits to convert your existing bike to be an e-bike and they are effective and pretty easy to install. That's pretty innovative if you ask me. I also think for a lot of people who live in the right climate (most places) that an e-bike is most likely all they need for most of their travel/commute.

However, there is an aspect of it that I think is so American and that is - so would a little scooter like they use in most of SE Asia. But that's seen as a vehicle for the "poor countries". Also, we have had the trend in American since the automobiles conception to make ours bigger and more dangerous to everyone not inside it. So we have this situation where our roads and streets are designed for Armored Personnel Carriers that every drives and for everyone else its super deadly. And those APCs are a big element of our economy who have powerful lobbyists. So they pay for articles like this to be written and people love their APCs so much that they can't stand that they might be slightly inconvenienced by having to consider cyclists, skaters, and pedestrians. The idea they might have to consider them is so egregious to their sense of travel entitlement that they would rather consider vehicular murder than accommodate them for even a moment.