Reddit mentions of ANCHEER Power Plus Electric Mountain Bike, 26'' Electric Bike with Removable 36V 8Ah Lithium-Ion Battery, 21 Speed Shifter (Black)

All ebikes have a motor that makes noise that you'll have to get used to compared to a traditional bike, but it's not so bad. If it gets annoying, a half face helmet for mopeds/motorcycles will have flaps/plastic to block noise out.

The other answer...is tricky. That budget is very low for a new ebike (I can't comment on mopeds as where I live, you need a license to operate them, so I don't have one). There will likely be a lot of people coming along shortly saying "no good ebike is $500". That may be true to people with a comfortable income, but I do understand if you don't have a lot of money to throw around because of life circumstances.

If you have no large hills and/or are willing to help the motor by pedaling - this bike maybe, plus slap a cheap cargo rack on it, and you can buy/have it shipped to your local Walmart for pickup.

Ancheer ebikes for a bit more+shipping is similar quality if you prefer buying off Amazon.

If your commute is small, and by 'basic cargo' you mean something that fits in a bike basket - Maybe the Swagtron line of ebikes which are smaller+foldable.

Otherwise, if you're willing to up your budget a couple of hundred dollars more, I have this folding Ecotric bike and it's got a more powerful motor (250w vs 500w)- it does most of what I want to, including get up Pacific Northwest style hills so long as I pedal to help the motor along.

There's also the argument you'll get "the most bang for your buck" by converting a bike - and this can be true...but it also depends. Converted my old 26" Schwinn I had sitting around - and the conversion varies by the condition of the bike you use as the donor (some bikes need maintenance, even brand new bikes can have some questionable parts if you buy it from a box store), and buying batteries for cheap can be a bit overwhelming (I bought a bare minimum battery for $200, 48v/10.4 AH, which is okay on flats...but absolutely gets murdered on the hills I actually need it for). If one is new at bike mechanics/basic electrical concepts, it will require extra manpower hours to learn how to put the kit on the bike.

Cheers!

It is $600 and buy one get one free? That seems pretty inexpensive especially with a bike rack thrown in.

Also, I found the bike on Amazon which is out of stock now but has a bunch of reviews.

It's a 250 watt bike with an 8AH battery which is pretty low end in specs but it's also a pretty low price for an eBike. The reviews aren't awful and most of them probably paid 2x what you are paying.

One reviewer said they logged 1000 miles on theirs which is more than I would expect. It's walmart tier but sometimes walmart tier is OK.

At least if one dies you'll have a parts bike.

Do you have this version? I got this one (this is the 2019 version) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AU7KWXC/

NYC?
For the city I'd love a fortified single speed, with a small front hub kit. The fortified bike is supposed to be tough to steal and a front hub motor could be more easily locked up with the frame.

I'd be concerned about theft first then coppers.

links:

example bike -- https://www.amazon.com/Fortified-Commuter-Theft-Resistant-Single-Medium/dp/B01MSLM9XI/ref=lp_15982031011_1_1?srs=15982031011&ie=UTF8&qid=1520459892&sr=8-1

example kit -- https://dillengerelectricbikes.com/electric-bike-kits/best-sellers/street-legal-electric-bike-kit-samsung-power-13ah-by-dillenger.html


or could get a cheap steel single speed (pure cycle or something) and add that hub kit to it.


other choice (I'm obviously about cheap/hard to steal bikes for the city): Ancheer cheap electric https://www.amazon.com/ANCHEER-Electric-Mountain-Removable-Lithium-Ion/dp/B01AU7KWXC/ref=sr_1_5?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1520460322&sr=1-5&keywords=ancheer


however, the 1-star ancheer ebike reviews are scary...evidently the brakes suck

I think what she wanted to say is the brake touch the disc ,you have to set them because they arent but it s easy
I never did it before and it took me 5 min after watching a tutorial video to do it.
I will not recomend the folding version , why ?because the battery is just in the front bag with a lot of wire and with out any protection or very poor protection against rain and crashes
an the battery isnt remobable so a thief can easely take it and you cant let the bike in the garage or outside and charge the battery at home
this version: https://www.amazon.com/ANCHEER-Electric-Mountain-Removable-Lithium-Ion/dp/B01AU7KWXC has a metal bottle battery and this is removable battery this is a lot better and safer
I had this bike for month and I crashed 2 time ( because I wanted to push this bike to his limit)
and everything still working
watch the youtube channel : Vegas Romaniac he has more than 20 video avout this bike covering everything on
this bike and he rided this bike for 6000 miles!: and the battery hasnt loose a lot , this bike have two problem : the tire/ air tube is bad you will probably have a flat soon , but it s not a big deal take schwalbe marathon and you will not have a flat for a long time
and the seat is very hard , same it s easy and cheap to replace

sorry for my bad english I am french , you can buy this bike for 500 euros on aliexpress in fact they have just raised the price before when I bought it it was 400 euros

There's more than one Ancheer rider on the sub-reddit.

https://www.amazon.com/ANCHEER-Electric-Mountain-Removable-Lithium-Ion/dp/B01AU7KWXC/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=5RCD10FNNZ3M&keywords=ancheer+electric+bike&qid=1561996468&s=gateway&sprefix=ancheer+e%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1

Just keep in mind that you're buying an inexpesnive Chinese product. When you get it, you'll need to do some assembly and go over all the hardware to make sure everything is tight. You do not want to find out on the road, trust me. If you're not comfortable doing this yourself, buy the bike at ~$600 and spend the extra budget on taking it to a bike mechanic, or even a friend who is mechanically inclined to help you out.

The other thing to note is that 30 mile range is on the high end for your budget. If the ground is level, you keep speeds down (under 15 MPH), and you are willing to pedal to help out, you can get 30 miles out of that Ancheer.

Final thing. No one can tell you an e-bike's range; it's all about battery capacity and the load you'll put on the bike. Going faster requires more energy. Starting from a stop requires more energy than cruising. Going up hill requires more energy. It's just like your car. How many miles can you go on 10 gallons of gas? It all depends on where and how you drive.

You'll see batteries advertised with volts (V) and amp hours (Ah). For example, that Ancheer has a 36V 8Ah battery. To compare that battery against others, you can't just use the Ah part though. You multiply V x Ah to get Wh (watt-hours). Watt hours are the best way to compare batteries. That Ancheer bike has a 288Wh battery, which is pretty small. That's what you get at this price range though. Batteries are a commodity (like gas). There's no way to get 10 gallons of gas for the price of 5 gallons, and there's no way to get 500Wh of battery for the price of 250Wh ;)