I think the electric bike idea breaking through is similar to the honda bikes first popping up in the US. Everyone laughs at them from a distance, and then their neighbor gets one, then a relative gets one, and 50 years later "jap bikes" are accepted by the average joe as the norm. But still laughed at by the old guys.
Of course now-a-days we're bombarded by new technology every other week so the acceptance might be a lot easier than it was for honda back then. You cant get an old guy on a crotch rocket, but you can sell him the latest cellphone, so thats progress.
