> Electric and internal combustion cars do not cost the same though.

They do in other (non-US) markets, without subsidies.

PHEVs are a bad deal, always were. Only make sense if there's subsidies or tax advantages for buying them over pure combustion cars (unfortunately a thing in some markets). Most PHEVs are never charged and PHEV batteries are roughly 4x more expensive per kWh than EV batteries, so there is no cost benefit in the electric drivetrain.

There are no subsidies for EVs in the USA.