Shift lever as in Park, Reverse, Neutral, and Drive.
Why is it so important those controls be on a lever? It’s not the only car to put them somewhere else?
It's pretty much the only car that puts them on the touch screen, yea.
As long as they are physical controls that a person can find and operate while focusing on where they're trying to go. Levers are familiar to hundreds of millions, so that's a safe bet. Changing it without good reason is unwise.
Using touch screens that require visual inspection is irresponsible.