“Riding in a car is biblical according Chasam Sofer for violation of resting.”
OK, if you can show me a psak from the Chasam Sofer about cars I’ll give you all my money and be your slave forever.
Joking aside, turning on most electrical appliances is probably a d’oraisa on Shabbos. I don’t think that’s a key point here. It sounds like the only reason timed lights were given a heter was because of the troubling, preexisting custom. I suppose you could argue that people using Shabbos clocks for other stuff has become a new troubling trend. Just to be clear though, I am not saying that.