It's true that companies generally style hybrid/electric vehicles to look a little weird, but....
Because when the first Prius launched, it looked like a normal car.
It was rather ugly in most people's opinions. From some angles it looks more bizarre than the subsequent Priuses.
See the various generations here: https://global.toyota/en/prius20th/evolution/
Seriously, it was a very odd-looking car: http://www.imcdb.org/i044705.jpg
To the extent that it looked like "a normal car", it looked like an absolute bargain-basment Toyota along the lines of a Tercel or something. Different is one thing; different and ugly is quite another.
Nobody wanted to buy one.
It was only sold "in limited numbers" in the US.
According to Toyota, the company was only "breaking even" on each one sold. They weren't really pushing them either.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius#First_generation_...
The second-generation Prius had an incredibly conspicuous
shape, and it sold like hotcakes.
Convenient narrative, but I'd say it's completely false. At best, it's only a small part of the story.
It's not as if the second-gen was a simple rebadge of the first-gen with weirder looks.
First-gen was a funky sedan of limited utility and performance. Additionally the concept of a hybrid vehicle was bizarre and foreign at the time.
The second-gen was a massive improvement in every way. Significant and objective improvements in power, range, comfort, capacity, and so on. Furthermore the hatchback/fastback body style is of much greater convenience and utility.
As far as looks... while it was certainly unconventionial and perhaps not beautiful, the second-gen model looked more "futuristic family car" and less "weird ultra-budget sedan" like the first one.
