I do believe that one is critical as well, and I'd really like to see some UX videos of drivers using that thing. Ideally with eye tracking.
Do you ever change the radio while driving? It's about the same level of involvement. I haven't found it to be a huge issue in the ~2 years I've been using it.
The giant iPad in Teslas is stupid as well, but at least it isn't directly in front of the driver's face - begging to become a distraction.
On another note, I find it's useful to mentally replace the term "smart" with "surveillance" to figure out the true purpose of these things.