They appear to be mixing up using electronics to disable the car dangerously when somebody else is driving (which might count as attempted or actual murder, things that are already illegal and very serious)
with using the electronics to vandalize or steal a car (which are also already illegal, but are much less serious crimes.) Maybe life in prison is justified for wrecking a moving car; hot-wiring a car to steal it doesn't have any justification for more serious penalties than any other method of stealing a car.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
