I'm blown away by how expensive they are and then how many I see.

$5k-$7k for an e-bicycle?

Yes yes yes, I realize enthusiasts pay up to $10-15K for high-end frames and wheels, with full Campy gruppos[1], but eBike buyer's aren't CAT-2 qualifiers.

On a side rant, the price of bikes in general has skyrockted. With so much of the manufacturing happening in China, I would have assumed that the overall costs of bikes would go down and quality would go up since the 80's (when I was really into cycling in my 20's). But the opposite has happened: quality stayed roughly the same and prices went way, way up. (e.g., A Tom Ritchie frame went for about $1.5k in 1984, and that was hand-made.)

[1] Wowzers: today, the campy super record gruppo is $3500. https://www.merlincycles.com/en-us/campagnolo-super-record-1...