The Author is arguing for replacing the chain with power wires, by generating power from pedaling and feeding it into the motor (with efficiency losses of 5%). So the power split from "human" power vs. battery power will barely change, with the benefit of less mechanical parts. It would thus also work just like a conventional E-Bike when the battery is empty (with 5% less efficiency).
> The second idea in the article which made me double-take is the idea of removing direct mechanical brakes from the bike
Many E-Scooters already use an electrical break (in addition to a mechanical one on the rear wheel), like the Ninebot E22. In my experience, I had less issues with using the front motor to break than many mechanical breaks on my previous bikes even though the communication seems kinda iffy (a bidirectional UART).
I wouldn't want to remove all mechanical breaks, but replacing the one on the rear wheel with an electric, primary one seems like a good idea.