I agree the Accord hybrid lacked the proper street cred to sell well. The pitch for a Prius was green points and fuel savings, but when you do the math the fuel savings is insubstantial and the green points were offset by the general feeling of driving a cheap cooler. (I remember finding the acceleration in my 4 cylinder Camry thrilling after 5 miles test driving a Prius.) Oh, and that "benefit" came at the cost of added mechanical complexity and upfront investment.

However, I didn't see many outside the liberal left coast crowd virtue signaling with their hybrids.

But that's not the case with Tesla. Of the Tesla owners I know, the majority also own companies and environmentally agnostic.

The only Prius owner I know personally was fresh out of college working an entry level sales job.

Oh, and as for the driving experience of a Tesla, performance models are quite literally quicker than many roller coasters. You might try driving a performance Model S sometime to experience the surprise first hand.

I assume you haven't, because very few Tesla skeptics have.