Not possible everywhere because of bad (car oriented) infrastructure, but an e-bike would be more optimal for this person's commute since they're "only driving a few miles a day".

No insurance, fun, repair it yourself, etc

I used to bike about 3 and 1/2 mi to work and back.

This was right in the middle of a major city. It was so nice to just basically not have to deal with traffic. I was faster than cars at that point.

I never got a fat tire enough to do the snow, so I would ride until I absolutely couldn't anymore. If it was 15° or Fahrenheit or less, I'd still ride. I would just bundle up like I was skiing.

It was a pretty small office, so I could just roll my bike up to my cube and leave it in there.

And when it was lunch I could go further faster.

Modern e bikes are even better. Commute farther, carry more stuff, sweat less, hills/headwinds don't matter.

There should be so much more bicycle commuting these days with e-bikes.

Rain does suck though.

> bad (car oriented) infrastructure

It's not an either-or. You can have streets which are car-friendly, bike-friendly, and pedestrian-friendly at the same time. Just look at the Dutch, they've been doing it for years. That is until recently in some big cities, though, where some less knowledgeable politicians have also adopted this false populist either-car-or-bike concept. Though the traditional principle still applies to about 99% of the country's roadworks, and it works really well.