It's not strange: if the bike sees that nothing is connected to a harness, it won't provide power.
Do you leave all the lights in your house on when you're not there? :)
I am skeptic about removing the rear brake: if the battery is full, you won't be able to regen/brake (unless they left enough room "at the top" which then hurts your overall performance).
KTM is not changing its tune; it has been their plans for years.
First time I heard about it was in 2014 or 2015.
And I think it is a good plan: you tie your development to a new generation where battery density is not that much of an issue and it gives you time to develop the next generations...
This, by the way, is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Do NOT under any circumstances use any other pad than the S1000RR version. The backing plate is thicker for that motorcycle and if you use anything else, you will end up losing the pads while riding.