Chicago.

It’s a great town.

Birthplace of the skyscraper…top-notch barbeque…unbelievable ‘home-grown’ Chicago Blues.

I’m telling you – this city never disappoints. And if it weren’t for the fact that I had to take a trip out to Wheaton, IL (a suburb about 30 miles east of Chicago) for a wedding a few weeks ago, I would’ve taken the L straight to the Drake Hotel…and spent my entire weekend in the Windy City.

Unfortunately, the L doesn’t make any stops at random churches in Wheaton, IL. So I had to rent a car.

I opted for the cheapest economy model. No need for anything fancy. And certainly no need for a gas guzzler. But when I arrived at Midway, they ‘upgraded’ me – to a PT Cruiser.

Let me preface this next part by apologizing if I offend anyone who owns this car. But what a complete piece of garbage!

An uncomfortable ride…a turning radius that’s unacceptable by any standard – and a gas guzzler to boot!

You know how I feel about that!

I was told it gets 22 mpg (city/highway). If it got just 20 I’d be surprised.

Of course, no one knows what goes on with those cars before you get in them. There could’ve been any reason it got such horrible gas mileage.

Nonetheless, my ‘upgrade’ ended up costing me an ‘upgrade’ in gas costs.

Now yes…beyond my bitching and moaning about poor gas mileage, I am going somewhere with this rant.

A Very Weak Shade of Green

Two days ago I read a very interesting article. The headline read, “Hertz Launches Collection of Green Vehicles”

My initial reaction to this headline was obviously one of excitement. Especially after my Cruiser Conundrum. Though after a few paragraphs into the article, I quickly realized I had stumbled upon something that smelled more like a PR job than anything with real substance.

Here are the first 3 paragraphs…

PARK RIDGE, N.J., Sept. 7, 2006 - Hertz is launching a new collection of fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly cars, that can be reserved by specific make and model, with an EPA highway rating of 28 miles per gallon.

The Hertz Green Collection features Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion, Buick LaCrosse and Hyundai Sonata. Most of the Camrys, Fusions and LaCrosses also carry EPA's Smartway certification, indicating lower emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases.

With more than 35,000 cars in the Green Collection, Hertz guarantees availability at 50 major airport locations across the U.S. The Green Collection cars are EPA highway rated at 28 MPG or better, and more than 18,000 of them are also SmartWay certified.

First things first…

How does 28 mpg signify a ‘Green’ collection? (Maybe a wink and a nod from a questionable bureaucracy?)

Here’s the mpg for Hertz’s ‘Green’ collection:

2007 Toyota Camry 24 mpg city/ 33 mpg highway

2007 Ford Fusion 23 mpg city/ 31 mpg highway

2007 Buick LaCrosse 20 mpg city/ 30 mpg highway

2007 Hyundai Sonata 24 mpg city/ 34 mpg highway

** Hertz also rents a Toyota Corolla, which has a better mpg rating than any of these, yet is not listed in their new 'Green' Collection.**

Listen. My intention here is not to put Hertz down. Just the fact that management has taken the initiative to integrate the idea of a “Green” collection is admirable.

But like my father always said – if you’re going to do something…don’t do it half-assed!

There are vehicles on the market that boast fuel economy ratings much more impressive than what you’ll find in Hertz’s Green collection.

Take a look:

Honda Insight 60 mpg city/ 66 mpg highway

MINI Cooper 28 mpg city/ 36 mpg highway

VW Beetle (Diesel) 37 mpg city/ 44 mpg highway

Honda Civic Hybrid 49 mpg city/ 51 mpg highway

VW Golf (Diesel) 37 mpg city/ 44 mpg highway

Toyota Prius 60 mpg city/ 51 mpg highway

Hyundai Elantra 27 mpg city/ 34 mpg highway

Pontiac Vibe 30 mpg city/ 36 mpg highway

Toyota Matrix 30 mpg city/ 36 mpg highway

Scion xB 30 mpg city/ 34 mpg highway

Ford Focus Station Wagon 36 mpg city/ 34 mpg highway

Ford Escape Hybrid (SUV) 36 mpg city/ 31 mpg highway

Volkswagon Jetta (Diesel) 36 mpg city/ 41 mpg highway

Toyota Corolla 32 mpg city/ 41 mpg highway

Hyundai Accent 32 mpg city/ 35 mpg highway

Honda Civic 30 mpg city/ 40 mpg highway

Of course, some would make the argument that many of these more fuel-efficient models are also more expensive. And any extra cost would certainly be passed along to the consumer.

So would consumers be willing to spend the extra money for a more fuel-efficient vehicle? Or better yet – would they even have to???

Albeit small, there is a rental car company that only rents fuel-efficient vehicles. Calling itself the nation’s only environmental rental car company, EV Rental Cars rents only hybrid vehicles – and competitively too. (It should be noted that EV Rental Cars is partnered up with a small independent discounter in Los Angeles – Fox Rent a Car, Inc.)

Look at the cost difference between renting a Toyota Prius from EV Rental Cars and a Toyota Corolla from a Hertz location in Phoenix, AZ.

Not only is the upfront rental cheaper for the Prius – but the Prius will cost you less in gas than the Corolla.

Of course, there’s a much bigger picture involved here.

Yes, the Prius from EV Rentals is cheaper and uses less gas. So from the individual consumer’s standpoint, it’s pretty much a no-brainer.

But collectively – this adds up to one hell of a total gas savings.

Who Wants to Save $20 Million?!!

By the time Hertz retires one of its vehicles and puts it up for sale, it has less than 30,000 miles.

Looking at one of their listings this morning, I actually saw some vehicles with less than 25,000 miles.

So assuming the Toyota Corolla Hertz rents at its Phoenix location will run 25,000 miles before the company retires it, at 32 to 41 mpg – this particular vehicle will use up approximately 610 to 781 gallons of gas.

A Prius on the other hand, will use up between approximately 417 and 490 gallons of gas.

Based just on this one car – the total gallons saved by using a Prius over the course of 25,000 miles is between approximately 193 and 291.

Now let’s multiply this by Hertz’s entire ‘Green’ collection – 35,000 vehicles.

Switching this ‘Green’ collection to vehicles that can deliver the same fuel efficiency as the Prius – collectively, car-renting consumers could displace between approximately 6.75 million and 10.2 million gallons of gas.

At today’s average gas price of $2.65 a gallon, you’re looking at a savings of between $17.8 and $27.03 million!!!

Of course, I’m not so naïve to believe that a car rental company is overly concerned about fuel efficiency. They don’t have to pay for the gas – you do!

But it’s that very reason that we’re going to start seeing more car rental companies upgrading their fleets to more fuel-efficient hybrid models in the very near future. Just as we continue to see more and more car buyers purchasing hybrids for themselves.

Look at the increase in U.S. sales for the Honda Insight, for example.

Honda debuted the Insight in the American market in 1999. Since then, U.S. sales of the Insight have generally doubled every year.

• 9,350 in 2000
• 20,287 in 2001
• 35,000 in 2002
• 47,525 in 2003
• 88,000 in 2004
• 205,749 in 2005
• 142,497 in 2006 (through July)

Rental Car company execs aren’t stupid. They know the demand for fuel efficiency is real. So much so, even those who want to add more hybrids to their fleets can’t because supplies are so limited right now.

A spokesperson for Enterprise Rent-A-Car recently told reporters that the company only has about 50 hybrids in its fleet of 650,000 because the supply for hybrids is so tight.

But these supply restrictions are only temporary. The profit potential within the hybrid market however, is not.

From day one, Green Chip Stocks has been on top of nearly every major hybrid opportunity in the market. But the best part is – we’re just getting warmed up.

And if you don’t believe it, check out our latest hybrid play here .

Though let me warn you – it’s a little unorthodox. Of course, it also gained another 6 percent today!