General Motors to invest $7 billion to enhance electric vehicle production

General Motors said last week it will invest $7 billion in Michigan, much of which concerns enhancing the production of full-size electric pickups.

The investment has been labeled as an intensification of a battle with Ford Motor and Tesla Inc to become the leader of electric vehicles.

GM said its Detroit-Hamtramck and Orion Township plants will have the ability to build over 600,000 electric trucks annually by 2024, with three other plants in Tennessee, Ontario, and Mexico increasing the automaker’s total North America EV production capacity to more than a million units by late 2025.

At a press briefing Tuesday, CEO Mary Barra said the automaker “committed to make our home state the epicenter of the electric vehicle industry”.

United Auto Workers leaders applauded the investments by the automaker.