What's going on?

General Motors (GM) has the power� to one-up its rivals: the carmaker announced late last week it�ll boost its spending on electric vehicles (EV) through 2025.

What does this mean?

GM will top up the $20 billion investment it announced back in March with an extra $7 billion, which should help the carmaker reach its ambitious goal of releasing 30 new EVs by 2025. And since the majority of its new vehicles will feature the company�s upcoming Ultium battery cells, they�ll all reportedly have a range of up to 450 miles � even further than the 402 mile radius of Tesla�s Model S Long Range Plus introduced in June. Better still, GM says its new battery cells should bring the price of its EVs in line with the company�s current gas-powered models by the middle of this decade.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Dream big.

There�s growing pressure on carmakers to phase out gas engines: just last week, the UK banned the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 onward. That means competition is fierce: GM�s EV spending is dwarfed by Tesla and Volkswagen, which is planning to invest $86 billion into EVs over the next five years. But all three are using the same playbook: they�re developing their own batteries � the most expensive component and most influential over profitability � rather than buying them from third-party suppliers.

The bigger picture: Dream green.

All this is in keeping with what BlackRock�s been seeing lately: the world�s biggest investment manager said late last week that investors have been allocating more than twice as much money to its funds that invest in climate change this year. It�s also noticed that companies focused on so-called �stakeholder capitalism� � that is, on serving the interests of all stakeholders � have been outperforming their stock market rivals.