I offered my wife a Tern HSD S+. It is near your upper bracket, but it is a very well rounded bike. The 20'' wheels allow easy loading, keeping the center of gravity low at rest. The custom suspension fork works well on gravels, the brakes are great.
I could not resist adding accessories (pouches, stand, cargo tray and last but not least a unique front basket.

Some general notes:

With an e-bike your primary drive is electric, this means you do *not* need to be concerned with rolling resistance or pedaling efficiency anymore

What this means:
 - get a full-suspension bike, your backs will thank you for that 10 times over and the motors will take care of the inefficiencies that are the main disadvantage otherwise
 - prioritise battery capacity over bike weight when given the choice
 - do not go too high end, focus on a high-wuality electric power train more than the "bike" side of the bike
 - do not be concerned too much about motor power, a weaker motor with a bigger battery is generally more practical than a stronger one with a smaller battery

If you want an e-bike as a car/transport replacement, you want a rear-wheel motor variety with a suspended seatpost (aftermarket thing) and some other upgrades like a high end fork etc. Main focus is the chain/belt system gets way less loaded so becomes almost maintenance-free and the whole thing is less complicated so more reliable.

If you want a recreational use e-bike, you want the opposite, a full-suspension one with a middle motor and a built-in battery per above. The middle motor provides for a much more nimble bike. I would also stick to 27.5" wheels if you did not drive for long. Easier to control.

ADD:
As for Tern bikes mentioned, these are absolutely bullet-proof but keep in mind their primary design focus is practicality *not* the comfort of the rider. Were I to suggest Tern, it would be their 26" models and that with a big baloon tires at low pressure. Either way, if one was looking at Tern, means they already know what they want to begin ...

"With an e-bike your primary drive is electric, this means you do *not* need to be concerned with rolling resistance or pedaling efficiency anymore"

Unless you are twenty miles from home and your battery runs down

Some of them are almost impossible to ride too far with a dead battery. Of course, the solution would be, do not let the battery run down.

I do a bit of cycling and if I had and electric option I would like to be able to ride it with or without using the electric motor.

I have also been looking at some of the electric options but have come to no conclusions yet.

There's a large forum of ebike users at: https://forums.electricbikereview.com/

Yamaha, I believe, was the originator of the in-the-hub electric motor.  They initially created it for their electric wheel chair, and when it was obvious that the FDA would not allow their wheel chair into the USA under the then current regulations, they made a conversion kit for the wheel chairs. 

I see that they are now making the same type of conversion kits for bikes.  You will have to do some research on the various models.

https://www.google.com/search?q=yamaha%20electric%20bike%20conversion%20kit&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m

Addendum:  The FDA regulations for electric wheel chairs was written so that only the golf-cart-emulating, USA made versions would pass.  I know this because I helped a friend import one illegally.  Technically, it was illegal contraband.  But the agents of the Port Authority were too busy confiscating heroin to bother with our illegal wheel chair or I might be writing from prison right now.