Tesla: Not so easily bricked
This whole bricking story is a little ridiculous.<p>There are any number of easy ways to 'brick' an internal combustion engine, and yet we're not all torches 'n' pitchforks over them.  Partially because ICEs have been around so long that the relatively short list of "things to avoid" is burned indelibly into the popular consciousness.  Partially because over a hundred-odd years of continuous engineering, a typical ICE can take a hell of a lot of abuse before it fails.<p>And note that the "shit that might happen to you" column still isn't trivially dismissed on the ICE side, even after 100+ years of safety engineering.  We physically pump highly-flammable liquids into our gas tasks; people still occasionally get burned or even <i>die</i> doing that shit!<p>Couldn't find many stats, but this is interesting:
<a href="http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/Research/FireSafetyVehicles.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/Research/FireSafetyVehi...</a><p>Let's assume the $40k figure is at all likely for a vehicle owner that RTFM'd.  I'm pretty sure anyone ever burned in a gas-fueled vehicle fire would gladly go back in time to fork over $40k to avoid that experience.