That doesn't say anything about the state of PvE combat. It's just demonstrating a specific issue where NPCs don't recognise ramming as an attack.
I get the full rewards that I would for combat, I have none of the challenges that I would normally face from combat. The fact that you say and I quote "It's just demonstrating a specific issue where NPCs don't recognise ramming as an attack" would indicate that this is a specific issue regarding NPCs verse players when it comes to combat.
Now this doesn't work when they are automatically hostile, but NPCs in res sites are not automatically hostile, and most mission targets are also not automatically hostile. So yes this does look poorly apon the state of PvE combat, which is already in an abysmal state since the heavy nerfs it received a few weeks after 2.1 was released.