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How China Quietly Took Over the EV Supply Chain

EV supply chain

China quietly controls the EV supply chain — and nobody talks about it

If you drive an electric car or plan to buy one, here’s the truth. The EV supply chain that powers your vehicle runs straight through China.

From rare earth minerals to battery manufacturing to essential components, China owns nearly every stage of the process. Even Tesla depends on it.

Forget the headlines about new factories in Texas or Europe. Behind the scenes, the real power in the EV world isn’t in California.

It’s in places like Sichuan, Jiangxi, and Ningde.


The whole game starts with minerals

Electric vehicles need rare earths. Lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, manganese — all the stuff that powers modern batteries.

And guess what?

  • China processes more than 60 percent of the world’s lithium

  • It controls about 70 percent of global cobalt refining

  • And nearly 100 percent of rare earth element separation

The EV supply chain begins in the ground. But most of the refining and processing doesn’t happen where minerals are mined.

It happens in China. They’ve spent decades quietly building capacity while the rest of the world debated regulations.


Batteries are built in China too

Let’s say you get your lithium from Australia or Chile. Fine. But when it comes time to turn that material into a battery — China still dominates.

CATL and BYD, both Chinese companies, are the biggest EV battery producers in the world. Tesla’s most popular battery packs?

Many of them come from CATL. Even if a Tesla is made in America, its heart is made in China.

No batteries means no EVs. And right now, China owns the factories, the tech, and the talent.


Manufacturing is the final piece

Most of the world’s EVs are still built in China, even if they wear a foreign badge. It’s not just domestic brands like NIO and BYD.

Many Western companies rely on Chinese plants to produce or assemble their electric vehicles.

The EV supply chain is global. But China sits at the center of it — not just by chance, but by design.


What this means for Tesla and everyone else

Tesla might lead in branding, software, and hype. But when it comes to the physical stuff — the parts that make the car move — it’s still dependent on China.

The risk? If anything goes wrong between governments or economies, supply could stall, prices could spike, and production would slow to a crawl.

The electric future might be American-made on paper. But the EV supply chain runs through China. Quietly, consistently, and completely.

Read more – Chinese Cars That Are Way Better Than Tesla

Written by
Rick Jeffries

Speaker, Writer, Trend-setter, and Founder of Ventures Marketing.

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