General Motors escalates the electric vehicle arms race

General Motors Co on Wednesday boosted its spending on electric and autonomous vehicles, pulled ahead plans for two U.S. battery plants and forecast stronger-than-expected second-quarter profits.

The No. 1 U.S. automaker said it will now spend $35 billion through 2025 on EVs, an increase of 75% from March 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the industry.

Shares of GM were up more than 2.8% in early trading on Wednesday.