Experienced ebikers:

On a pedelec with cadence sensing assist actuation, can you kick in the electric motor assist by turning the cranks backward?

Hmm. (googling, googling) The answer seems to be 'no', so the bike doesn't surge forward when the rider spins the cranks around backward to position them for starting out. Correct?

But the assist level is controlled by crank rpm? So if one is riding along and wants to go faster via more assist, they would shift to a lower gear to speed up crank rotation?