I wonder, why everyone talks
I wonder, why everyone talks about discharching to 0 percent or full discharge. The problem we are talking about is discharging BELOW 0%, which is normally called DEEP discharge.
Also I think Model S & X will have much better protection against deep discharge of the battery. It simply needs to turn off all electronics, that drain the battery completely at a certain level. Then self-discharge should be so low, that it can be left unplugged for a few months without any damage, that's called deep sleep and will be automatically activated at 5% capacity.
Of course then it needs to be transported to a charger, because it can't drive with its own power anymore.
Another good thing would be to send the owner a SMS before the car goes to deep sleep, telling him/her to plug in the car immediately/within a calculated time, so the batteries won't be damaged, or a user could send the car to deep sleep remotely, with the risk that it needs to be plugged in, before you can drive again, i.e. if it is to cold for batteries, when owner returns. As they all have GSM, why not directly contact the owner, instead of Tesla headquarters?
Also it does not make much sense, like the Roadster does, to show visual & acoustic warnings, which will drain the battery even more, when no one is in the car (a sensor could tell). Instead it should set some mechanical part or e-Ink display to: "Please recharge immediately to avoid damage to the battery pack" - then turn to deep sleep.
In addition they could implement a "storage" mode, that uses less power for electronics as normally, but therefor may need an hour or so to drive again, i.e. to heat up the battery pack.
Of course this would also be an argument for integrated solar panels, even if they only charge 2-3 miles on a sunny day, it should make deep discharge (bricking) practically impossible.
Oh yes, everything was easier with the EV1 - it had NiMH batteries, they do not get big damage (if any), when they come to a deep discharge (like the other Ni-based batteries too, like NiCd or NiZn), also they do not need heating in the winter, and are much easier to manage. Of course it did only have a range of about 120 miles in average with its EV95 (ovonics) battery, but than it was back in 1999!! And capacity of NiMH also increased since then.
But sadly Chevron-Texaco has bought patents on those batteries and no one is allowed to built larger NiMH-cells, this patent lasts until 2015, so there is need to use other battery technologies, like the different Lithium-Types, which are much more sensitive about over or under charching and temperature, so they need a much more complex BMS. (battery management system).
We'll see what will happen in 2015, maybe the NiMH-battery then will still be used for some lower range/cheaper and/or more robust electric vehicles.