All of which is pretty much what I said -- if you want to go further or with less effort they're great π
Not at all, that was one of the excellent uses I listed π
Indeed, possibly an electric bike for longer distances/harder hills/less sweaty cycling, and a manual one when you just want to get fitter or don't need the electric one.
If I was still commuting into town and doing 20+ miles a day every day like when I was at Imperial, I'd have an electric bike like a shot. But I only use the bike here at home (full-size) for exercise/enjoyment (towpath cycling) and the one on the boat (Brompton) for lock-wheeling and short trips, and for both these a manual is absolutely fine -- and of course since you exert more effort, gets you fitter faster... π
The point is that cycling is one of the best ways of getting around if you can do it, whatever type of bike you're on, and if an e-bike encourages you to do this instead of using other less environmentally friendly forms of transport then so much the better.