My two cents (and, no, I've not read the article): things like retractable door handles are fine if they're designed to function completely standalone with no power, etc. Like, having a door handle that's flush with the body looks great and is one less thing to cause noise in a quiet car, but I don't see why it couldn't be completely mechanical and self-contained. The issue is that every little fucking thing has to be motorised and controlled through a touch panel, an app, or some utterly inscrutable "AI" without opt-out.