My Carrera crosscity e used to make a whining/screaming sound mostly in high assist - but it had started to do the same in medium assist.
It mainly did it at the higher end of the speed range - clearly came from the motor so it cut out at the cut off speed
I recently had the batter recelled and when I got it back the whining/screaming stopped
I presume it was something to do with the voltage/power being delivered from the battery to the motor and the better cells made it the proper level again.
Lots of people have a better idea of how these work than me so a more informed opinion would be welcome!