Ulysses Says Built Those Cars

I just had a conversation with Ulysses Tahn. Now, U. Tahn, as he is sometimes know, is the guy with enough drive and enough heart to really make things happen in our state. You might say he is the heart of Utah.

So, I took my question from last night to him. "What, Ulysses, should we be doing to encourage alternative-fuel cars in this state? I mean, we know we have a pollution problem, and we know alternative-fuel cars will reduce pollution, so is there anything we can do to get people to drive around in a few more of these vehicles?"

 "Built them," Ulysses answered.

"What?" I asked.

"Just built them," he repeated. "If you know they'll help, why not build them. People can't drive something they don't have, so build the cars you want them to drive."
"Yeah, well there are already a few on the market. I see a few natural gas vehicles, and there are quite a few electric cars," I said.

Ulysses looked me in the eyes, pursed his lips and then took a deep breath. "It has always bothered me that Utah doesn't have a car maker. Next year, 2013, it will mark 100 years since Henry Ford introduced the modern assembly line. I just think it would be a good anniversary thing for Utah to start rolling automobiles off its own assembly line."

"Yeah, well starting an automobile company is not that easy."

"No?" he replied.

"No. You don't just go out and start an automobile company. Did you know that when Elon Musk started making cars recently, it marked the first successful startup of an automaker since Chrysler got started 87 years ago. No, we'd be a little too big for our britches to think we could start a car company."

"No can do, huh?" he asked.

"No can do," I answered.

"Well," he said. "I don't see why not. Why can somebody back in Detroit do it, and folks in Germany and in Japan, and other places around the world, and yet it is a little too much for the people in Utah? Aren't you as smart as them? Or don't you have the money enough, or what?"

"Well, why would we want to, even if we could? It's a pretty big undertaking. Why would we want to take on something like that?"

Ulysses again looked me in the eye. "Automaking is a good thing for the economy. It's jobs. It's big-sales revenue, what with even low-end cars selling for thousands of dollars. If you want to help your economy, think about it."

"Yeah?" I asked.

 "Yeah," he said. "You're telling me there ought to be some way to encourage alternative-fuel cars. Well, just build some that are priced right, and built to function well without too much hassle. The technology is now there for good alternative-fuel cars, and -- just me -- I don't see any reason why you can't make them for less money than what they are being made. Just do it, and of course people will buy them."

I kind of think he's right.

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