One data point -- I bought my girlfriend a cheap Zundapp ebike, a stencil-branded Chinese hub motor bike, about a year ago. She rides it every day to work and takes weekend trips on it. It was under $1000 on Amazon.

It has been brilliant, flawless. Not a single failure or repair in a year of pretty hard use. It has Shimano derailleurs and 24 gears, decent brakes, and the Chinese controller is fine.

Incredible value for money. She likes it as much as I like my $5000 Riese & Muller cargo bike.