I think this is one of the things that Toyota has done really right. Their hybrid drivetrain has made its way into a few models now (Corolla, Camry, Prius) and it's never a big thing, just a feature of the vehicle. I'm a longtime proponent of EVs and I've always hated the way that car companies feel compelled to turn any electric offering into a science project freak show.

To my mind this is the number 1 thing that Tesla has done right with their vehicles. They don't sell "Electric Vehicles", they sell vehicles. Which kick ass. And happen to be electric.

Toyota basically started this trend by making the Prius ugly and distinctive. Which is why Prius's sell very well but other hybrid drive trains in normal looking cars don't. You don't get cool points for driving a Camry Hybrid.

I dunno, the Insight looked pretty weird, with it's Citroen-esque covered rear wheels and its super-sleek exterior. But otherwise... I see where you're going with the "make hybrids/electrics look different so they'll gain cred" but it seems to be belied by most manufacturers' "here's a weird-ass dork car, you won't buy it right?" thing. Even the Bolt (which I'd argue is one of the better-looking non-Tesla EVs) is kind of klunky-looking.

The ugly looks is how those companies dealt with the fact that they didn't want to kill their regular models. You want electric? Here it is! Ewww...

I think they've even done one better. They've managed to associate, in the public's mind, the idea of "electric drivetrain" with "conventional but stunning good looks" with "amazing performance."

>designed for people who want to be seen driving an electric car

it may have been the case 15 years ago. Not today. EV/plugins/hybrid appeal to very specific perceived sense of practicality, to which hatchback (single volume) design appeals too (speaking from my mind as i have Pruis Plugin, and in the past among others i did own a high end BMW, and our tastes/preferences do change with time). Notice that all popular and/or good sellers EV/plugins/hybrids are hatchbacks, be it Model S or Bolt or Prius. And in my opinion GM did very good job with Bolt styling. It fits exactly the target segment, where is Model 3 looks like cheapened Model S, not a good start. I mean it is a high skill to sell cheaper, yet not cheapened, models by a high end manufacturer, and for example Mercedes(especially) and BMW do it masterfully. GM, not being high-end one, with Bolt needed to do something what is really far from "bad" GM, yet still GM. For me it seems like they hit the target.

Referencing the '"bad" GM': I'm really surprised they didn't start a new brand. Anecdotally traditional, American car companies have such a bad reputation that I'm surprised they didn't use EVs for a brand reset.

Probably wanted to take advantage of fleet clean/mpg averages when that was enforced.