Sticker price is just part of the cost calculator for any electrified vehicle. Here’s what the dealers in my area are posting for prices of Clarity PHEVs. You can view more at the DriveGreen website, or look for the equivalent in your area. Your dealer can direct you. 
I’m not sure any cars don’t illuminate the dash these days.
And yes, many cars have automatic headlights, and that’s part of the problem. People get used to the headlights being handled for them, and then when they drive something else they either forget to turn them on, or forget to turn them off again.
Auto headlights are probably the number one killer of HID bulbs. They’ll last a very long time as long as you don’t make a habit of flicking them on and off too quickly. Since auto headlights turn the lights on when you start the car in the garage, and then turn them off 15 seconds later when you back out, that’s 365 times per year, minimum, that you’re shortening the life of the bulbs.
My HIDs have been running for 11 years now, but I don’t use auto lights, and I never flash my lights at people in traffic.
The headlight bulbs on my 4Runner cost $4-$5/each (low and high) and take about 2 minutes to replace so I’m not concerned with them coming on needlessly in the garage. Maybe someone that drives a vehicle with a more expensive bulb or that requires 6 hours of labor to replace (yes they exist) may worry about that, but if I get to the point where I’m worried about the life of my headlights, I know it’s time to find more challenging things in my life;-).
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I’ll tell ya, when my wife had a '00 Intrepid I got irritated every time the passenger headlight went out. The easiest way to replace it was to jack the car up and remove the wheel. Seriously, who designed that?
I owned own of those cars for well over a decade. The person/people who designed it made it fairly simple to replace any headlight bulb.
Remove 2 bolt/pins from the top and the whole headlight capsule comes right out. Bulbs then go in without additional tools. Very quick and easy.
All I can guess is that you must have done it while the headlight assembly was in place.
I’m afraid that you are the one who made yourself irritated, not he designer(s)! 
CSA
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Well, probably. Car’s long gone, so I can’t go look. I do think that having to remove the entire headlight assembly is kind of silly for changing a bulb with a click-turn socket… 
On my 2005 Accord, I had to either remove the front wheel we’ll cover or pull it out of way, then fit a Phillips head screwdriver inside the fender to loosen three screws. It was impossible to see what I was doing, even with a light shining in there since there was room for my arm and nothing else. I’d locate the screw with a flashlight then try to find it and loosen it. Next, I turned the bulb holder, pulled it out, and changed the bulb. It was equally difficult putting the light socket back in and tighten the screws.
That’s not true, I drive semi so I can see the dash of almost all the cars as they pass me or I pass them.
99% of the cars I see driving down the road with no tail lights on are driving with DRLs on and dash is lit up.
FaIr enough. That’s my mistake.
I might point out something
Not all vehicles light up the dash when only the drls are in use
and drls aren’t required to be as bright as regular headlamps or automatic headlamps
A few months ago, one of our fleet’s vehicle operators brought his walk-in van in, complaining the headlamps were so dim he couldn’t see anything at night
I fired up the vehicle and did NOT touch the headlamp switch. I observed that the headlamps were very dimly lit, and the tail lamps were not on at all. The cluster illumination also wasn’t on. The headlamp switch was in the off position, and it didn’t even have an “auto” position, because it didn’t have automatic headlamps, or even a light sensor, for that matter.
I put the headlamp switch in the “on” position, and the headlamps were now at their regular brightness. The cluster illumination, markers and tail lamps also turned on, as they should
I told the vehicle operator “If you want to see where you’re going at night, turn on the headlamps.”
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On my 09 Focus, to change the passenger side bulb you have to pull up part of the bumper cover to get to the 3rd screw (after removing the other two of course…) that anchors the headlight module so you can pull it out to remove headlight module to change the bulb. I’ve tried to snake my hand in…even when you remove the coolant reservoir there is no space to get your hand down in there to change the bulbs.
+1
I regularly drive both my 2011 Outback and my friend’s 2008 Rav-4, and in both cases the dash is lit-up–along with the DRLs–once the ignition is turned on.