Volvo Automobiles broke floor Friday on a brand new technical middle particularly for electrical automobiles at its headquarters in Mahwah, N.J.

The 12,800-square-foot facility is predicted to open subsequent March and will probably be used to coach dealership technicians from the U.S., Canada and South America.

Anders Gustafsson, Volvo’s senior vp of the Americas and president of Volvo Automotive USA, declined to say how a lot the automaker is investing within the new coaching middle, however indicated it’s a main challenge. The middle will probably be situated on a 20-acre parcel of land and have 50 charging stations. A few of these charging stations might ultimately be made accessible to the general public.

Gustafsson, talking through video with Automotive Information, mentioned the coaching middle is significant to Volvo’s plans to transition to an all-EV future.

The corporate’s 280 U.S. dealerships, he mentioned, are brief roughly 200 technicians.

“We have to entice new technicians. The business is struggling,” Gustafsson mentioned. “We’ve determined now could be the time to care for every little thing that’s associated to customer support.”

Volvo final summer time introduced a $118 million funding in its Ridgeville, S.C., meeting plant to construct EVs, together with automobiles for the Polestar efficiency model and an electrical model of the XC90 crossover. The corporate plans to go totally electrical by 2030.

“If we as a producer do not put money into a facility the place our technicians are going to work, I can let you know that our sellers won’t do it both. So, this can be a cultural method,” Gustafsson mentioned. “They — our vendor companions — have completed a superb job, however I see that some are a little bit bit behind. Now it’s time to take these steps.”

The brand new facility will probably be Volvo’s sixth technical coaching middle in North America.