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There's nothing wrong with a regular bike and it has the upsides you listed. I was a bike commuter (on a commuter bike made for utility, not a road one made for speed) for four years before I bought an ebike and here's what it got me:

• I never have a reason to avoid biking. Too cold or hot? I'll arrive without being too sweaty or frostbitten. Too windy? I always have a tailwind. Too tired after working 10 hours in the sun? I always have a throttle and the strength of a world-class athlete. Too hilly? All terrain is flattened. Too long a ride? I'll arrive refreshed instead of tired and have the energy to go hiking/work a really physical job.

• It feels like biking as a child. On my normal bike, everything is effort so I end up choosing the most efficient routes and keeping it at speed to avoid having to pedal more. On my ebike, casually pedaling reaches the same top speed as using maximum effort on my normal bike. I go out of my way to explore, see things that otherwise wouldn't be worth the effort, and stop without the pain of starting. Having all that strength and energy makes it fun instead of punishing, and zipping along at those speeds is as fun as driving in a canyon.

• It carries weight easily. On my normal bike I don't like doing errands. Weight feels wonky and makes it much harder to ride, especially if I am transporting something bulky. With my ebike I feel confident riding with 40kg on the back have safely maxed out its 63kg limit. This makes it a very practical car replacement for any urban need I've had short of moving between apartments.

• It's as fast or faster than urban driving. Starting easily from a stop and easily maintaining the appropriate max speed for that surface means I can get anywhere in my city about as fast as driving and parking. On my normal bike I'm going slower with more effort.

• It's entirely pleasant. On my normal bike I'm too distracted from the effort to take in the landscape. Last night I went from eating dinner to a 15km ride mostly consisting of birdwatching. My situational awareness becomes so much better with my ebike, especially for the most enriching parts of bike infrastructure and urban greenspace.

• It's there when you lose the capability to otherwise bike. I like how I get more muscle definition from the extra effort of my normal bike, but I can't exert that effort if I sprain my ankle or have any kind of illness. If I drive in those moments I'm risking my most expensive possession at a higher speed, if I take public transit my travel time is at least doubled. As long as I'm conscious I probably feel okay riding my ebike to a hospital or work without that being more physically taxing or unsafe than I can handle. It's a godsend on days where I have migraines or muscle spasms in my legs. It will be vital for me when I'm 40 and my joints start going or 80 and I can't drive or bike safely.

because biking is extremely shitty in a lot of places due to poor infrastructure and being half way to a motorcycle makes a lot of that tolerable.

a push bike isn't better if it doesn't displace drives.

Ebikes offer a ton of upside in range, rideability, and other conveniences for this who are interested in investing in them. Even with the price tag, they are a much easier sell to a layperson than an analog bike, and most people who would consider riding a bike already would by now.

I prefer regular bikes but e-bikes have their place if you want to move heavy stuff (including kids) or want to get around but aren't physically able to use a regular bike to do so.