What just happened? General Motors has said it will pump even more money into electric and autonomous vehicle research than previously planned. The automaker now expects to pour $35 billion into its EV and AV programs through 2025, a 75 percent increase from the initial $20 billion commitment made in March 2020 in the very early days of the pandemic.

Last November, GM upped its planned investment to $27 billion.

It's all in an effort to become the market leader in EVs in North America, a global leader in battery and fuel cell tech and the first to safely commercialize self-driving tech at scale.

Specifically, GM will use the money to accelerate plans to build two battery cell manufacturing facilities in the US. They've also signed an agreement with Wabtec Corporation to help develop the world's first battery-powered locomotive.

GM cited a strong public reaction to its new Hummer EV, which enters production this year. Rival Ford has also fielded lots of interest from its recently announced F-150 Lightning.

GM CEO Mary Barra said the company aims to sell more than a million EVs annually by 2025. To help put that number into perspective, Tesla in the first quarter of this year delivered nearly 185,000 vehicles. That's not an apples to apples comparison, mind you, but it does help to highlight where one market leader currently stands versus where GM hopes to be by the end of 2025.