If you want Leaf because you want lower price, feel free. No problem with it.
But if you think the electronics or architecture in the Leaf are superior in any you are simply wrong.
> I really really really want to like Tesla, but this is beyond insane.
You are simply wrong on your assumptions about how Tesla works.
Yes Tesla has unified a lot of functionality into one core system, but literally every car maker is copping that strategy. In fact the older 10-100s of chips distributed system talking over buses was actually much, much more prone to bugs.
Even if that main system fails, the Tesla can still drive, this has been shown often by many people who rebuild Tesla or had issues with the core computation.
> I sincerely hope that SpaceX avionics are not designed this way.
Go look at the teardown and analysis of Tesla. Seriously, I highly recommend Sandy Munro. They do incredibly detailed teardowns of cars including Tesla. They have been doing it for decade and their business is selling that information to other car makers for (50k a pop).
Its actually the other way around. Tesla cars are designed more like SpaceX rockets or fighter jets in terms of electronics.
You can actually get their documents of the BMW i3 for just 10$ and you can basically rebuild the car yourself.
And literally everything they said about Tesla in terms of electronics was positive and well ahead of industry standards.
> It also has a 12V lead-acid battery that can power all the electronics if the main power system totally eats itself
So does every Tesla except new generation Model S. They have a 12V LiIon battery instead. And it has the same function as in a Leaf.
Elon has for a long time wanted to switch to 48V systems but they have not managed it yet. I hope they will get it with next generation Y or the Cybertruck.