> that they can take it apart and put it back together again despite its complexity.

It's definitely not this, since that hasn't been true since ~2010 CAFE standards required ECUs + their array of feeder sensors, all usually factory-locked.

Also, counter to my own argument is that EVs can still be hacked with (although less 'mechanically') as per recent article and HN discussion:

http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/ev/

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47342185