The affordability is probably more US centric. Because they are made in the US using mostly US parts they qualify for huge tax rebates. I got mine for about $28k which beats most of the EV market here, and is a fairly good deal even for an ICE car.
Most of the other companies you mentioned don’t sell cars in the US so I can’t make much of a comparison but I’m glad Europe has a better variety of EV options than the US. Seems like more companies are switching to EV every year.
Because they’re pretty great in most ways. They are one of the most energy efficient EVs, they are the most fun to drive of all the EVs I’ve driven (best acceleration and handling), I love not needing keys anymore. I love being able to control my car from the app. Tesla has almost twice as many high speed charging stations as every other charging company combined. They are more affordable than most other EVs. The lane assist is better than any other car on the market. Sure Elon is a dick, but Tesla has some adults in the room making good design decisions. It’s certainly not perfect but it’s a solid choice if you’re looking for an affordable, fun, and efficient car.
Mint is Ubuntu based but they also maintain a parallel Debian based Mint (LDME). If Ubuntu died they would just switch focus to LDME.