A lot of its hatred is harbored by the "hardcore" competitive battling community, where a lot of people just automatically disregard Electivire as a "noob Pokémon." One reason is because Electivire was (and still is) popular to a lot of fans, particularly fans who weren't hardcore competitive battlers, because it was among the first Gen. IV Pokémon featured; it even appeared in the anime (under Gary's ownership) before the DP arc began. Another reason is because Electivire was very hyped at the start of DP due to its then-unique Ability, Motor Drive, as well as its good offensive stats and insane movepool. Yet another reason is because a lot of competitive players felt that Electivire failed to live up to its hype, as ThunderPunch was a lackluster physical STAB, and despite its stats and moves, it often fell short of KO'ing its opponents, sometimes finding itself stopped cold by opposing Pokémon such as Swampert.Personally, I like Electivire. But even I must concede that in competitive battles, it's not a Pokémon that you can just toss out there and expect to win; you have to play it carefully for it to shine, but if you do play it right, it can terrorize an opposing team.
Of course, if we're just talking in-game, then Electivire is definitely a reliable (almost overpowered, I would daresay) Pokémon for getting through the game. Trust me. I used one in Diamond, and it did not disappoint.
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