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As i've pointed out, I already knew that Prius vs. Hummer article quite unaccurate, mostly because of its boat-anchor V8 and the transmission setup being naturally heavier and more slippy due to the AWD.
But now, considering a Prius and a comparably-sized turbodiesel compact car such as the current European Opel Astra, which is available with a 90hp 1.3L turbodiesel rated at the same mileage as the Prius, I'd still rather get one. Then, considering both the Prius and the Opel Astra running on pure ethanol, altough the Astra would use 40% more fuel for the same mileage the cost difference would still be favorable to it in a 160,000-mile expected life cycle. But it could also be set to run on other alternative fuels such as biodiesel and even straight vegetable oil or waste vegetable oil, which wouldn't decrease the mileage so much as ethanol does. Regarding emissions per gallon, current Diesels were highly improved for that matter.
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