With its US dealer council, Ford said the electric university would be “a multiday educational program” that would “immerse them in the world of electrification.”

Ford national dealer council chairman Tim Hovik said in an interview with Automotive News that “this really is a transformative time in history. Everything we’ve ever done before … this is a different world. 

The plan comes a week after Ford announced it will boost spending on EVs to $US50 billion ($A70b), up from the previously announced commitment of $US30 billion ($A42b), through to 2026. 

It plans to spend $US5 billion ($A7b) on EVs this year, up from $US2.5 billion ($A3.5b) in 2021, and building 600,000 EVs per year by the end of 2023.

Dealers in the US are selling the EV models of the Mach-E and E-Transit van with shipments of the F-150 Lightning expected by the middle of this year. Planned are electric versions of the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator. These are expected to go on sale in late 2024.

Ford will also separate its internal-combustion engine (ICE) business from its EV business – called Ford Model e – in a program aimed at catching Tesla. The two businesses will report separate financial statements from 2023.

Ford chief executive Jim Farley said in a company statement that it now plans to build more than two-million EVs in 2026 – about one-third of its annual global vehicle production – and that EVs would comprise 50 per cent of total volume by 2030.

The company does not expect to make a profit on its EV business until the next-generation models begin production in 2025.

Mr Farley said Ford Model e would need to spend “billions” of dollars to secure critical raw materials for batteries.

“We need the ICE business to generate cash and the EV business to focus on innovation.” he said in an interview with Automotive News.

Part of the glue for the EV business will be the electric university.

The dealer council’s Mr Hovik said many details were yet to be fixed but he said the program would likely include in-person classes covering everything from an EV’s performance capabilities compared with ICE vehicles, to ancillary ownership benefits such as mobile power generation.

The idea, Mr Hovik said, was partly inspired by the early popularity of Ford’s Bronco Off-Roadeos – four locations around the country where new Bronco owners can go to learn how to drive properly on various kinds of terrain. 

Before the programs opened to customers late last year, Ford hosted dealers at the Off-Roadeo outside Austin, Texas, so they could take turns behind the wheel.

Mr Hovik said the company and council realised they needed something similar given Ford’s lofty EV sales goals and the intense competition in the space.

“We absolutely are going to have to do a phenomenal job to get all of our people up to speed to deliver the world-class experience we do,” Mr Hovik told Automotive News.

“We just need to get a little smarter when it comes to electric.”

By Neil Dowling