The article touches on that a bit and the point they make is that speeding and changing emissions settings are already illegal and we already have enforcement a

The article touches on that a bit and the point they make is that speeding and changing emissions settings are already illegal and we already have enforcement agencies in place. So additional copyright-based restrictions don't make a lot of sense here. I'd also point out that driving on public roads is a licensed privilege (at least in the USA) - so it is conceivable that a car owner could loose the rights to drive their vehicle on public roads (potentially putting others at risk) with out loosing the rights to modify their vehicle.