perplexed by new rubbing after bike shop repairs

[confusedcyclist]

I had a similar issue, albeit not on an electric bike. Bike wouldn't freewheel properly - cranks turned when not pedalling and a had an intermittent rubbing noise. The reason was the axle nuts on the rear hub were a touch too tight and were causing a hub seal to rotate (that was the rubbing noise). Took the wheel off and tried to rotate the axle and it was very stiff. Backed the nuts off quarter of a turn and voila, issues solved. Could be this?

wow, could be on to a winner here! Will report back!