New Turbo Levo SL Alloy is Specialized's cheapest lightweight eMTB – but you'll pay a weight penalty
The alloy version of Specialized's Turbo Levo SL II is £1,750 cheaper and includes a range extender, but it adds weight
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It's comparative.
It's obviously horrifically expensive compared to a £200 bottom of the range mountain bike.
However, you can type "e mountain bike" in to Google and £10k, £12k models immediately come up and suddenly £5k doesn't seem so bad, especially if the specifications are very similar, as the article suggests.
Obviously these are enthusiast models, for people whom mountain biking is a special interest. They're not aimed at people that get the bike out a couple of times a year to cycle round the local park.
Even a non-electric full suspension MTB can easily cost well over 5k. What people don't often realize is that these are extremely high quality top of the line products. There's not a huge difference in the quality of components between a 5k "consumer" level mtb and one that a professional rides in a competition. Cheap mountain bike from walmart simply just can't handle the beating that a more expensive one can. The cheap bike literally falls into pieces during the first downhill ride.
I can see it both ways. My daily driver is a converted $100 Walmart bike (the conversion kit & battery cost +$500). It's held up okay, but I've had to put a lot of labor into it.
The only things original on it now are the frame, seat, crank, and one pedal. Still, at 4600 km, I've put less than $1000 into it, so you can get into it pretty cheap if you're commited and your needs are simple.