Ponyta's attack isn't 0 or 40 damage, it's 10 or 40 damage for an average of 25. Relying on coin flips isn't great, but I'd argue the potential early damage is worth it.
Primeape, on the other hand, is pretty objectively worse, even factoring in that Mythical Island Primeape only needs one energy - something else this article missed.
Galvantula's biggest downside is Joltik - with only 40HP, it's vulnerable to being killed before you can evolve it. Other than that, Galvantula has the same HP, energy cost, and damage output as Electrode. You can argue that Electrode's 0-energy retreat cost is better than Galvantula's attack trapping the opponent, but it's definitely not terrible.
I'm also not sure why you insist on writing "meta" in all caps. It's not an acronym.
