I met a lady maybe in her 70s on a bike trail in northern Wisconsin recently. She had a rented Specialized electric bike. A local bike shop sells and rents them, even delivers them to your cabin or condo and picks them up when your vacation is over. She loved everything about it. Said they were about $4,000 new, but the rented ones sold for half that at the end of the season. Next day I stopped at that bike shop (riding my 1970s Falcon) and had a nice visit. The manager had worked for Trek and thought the world of Trek, but said in his opinion Specialized was head and shoulders above the rest re: e-bikes. I took my first ride on one and came back with that smile that very few first rides have ever inspired. Wow!
A spouse who's not really taken up bicycling could have an epiphany on one of these. And experienced riders like many of us could be happy with one in years to come.