You've got that backwards. Prius weren't cool all the way until 2014, around the time environmental status symbol transferred to EV's and the used Prius started becoming very economical. Certain half of the political spectrum wouldn't be caught dead in them before hand and every other Hollywood movie had a cringy joke lambasting or praising them. Now they're just seen as a reliable financially savvy vehicles, not very "cool", but more popular now that regular people would have no problem driving them.

I am referring to the early 2000s when half the Hollywood celebs were driving Prius [1]. Prius carried the hype about hybrid cars back then the same way Tesla is doing now for EVs.

[1] https://www.autoweek.com/news/a2082556/starring-role-hollywo...

They were also pretty lambasted in popular culture around that time. The Other Guys (2010) is a good example of how the car was treated in the cultural zeitgeist at the time (though part of the joke that the movie makes is demonstrating how economical and great the car is despite its ‘uncool’ vibes).

2000s priuses were very cool amongst the aging boomer-hippy population. When they first came out it was a big deal to be in the school pickup line with your prius. You probably also shopped at organic grocery stores like whole foods (before the AMZN purchase), and just transitioned from pilates to yoga. Southpark even made an episode about the phenomenon.

When something is in the entire public sphere, it feels off to call it "cool" when it only appeals to a certain small subgroup. At that time, the much larger general population had the opposite take on them. It's like calling Dungeons N' Dragons "cool" because nerds and geeks liked it a lot.

It is the nerds and geeks who like Tesla the most.

I have an early 200s Prius. Its seen better days but the battery works and I can't argue with the fuel savings. it costs me about $30 to fill up and that lasts me for about a month.

I own two Toyotas myself ;) An 8 year old Corolla that I only occasionally drive, but it never fails to take me from point A to B; another is a new and exciting Highlander hybrid which I only need to fill once every 500 miles.

Pretty much everyone who clogged up the left lane in the '00s in their Prius is still doing the same thing today but in a Tacoma or 4Runner. The specific model of blind adoration may have changed but the fanboys still line the same pockets. If that is any indication Tesla will do just fine.

Toyota are doing fine because of their reliability. Can the same be said about Tesla?

Toyota has a brand image and they design, market and sell to that image.

Tesla has established a brand image based around a different set of attributes and they design, market and sell to it.

I like that. It will be interesting to see how sustainable their brand image is in future given those attributes.