ASTANA, July 6 — The global race to dominate electric vehicle production is reshaping supply chains that reach from the lithium flats of Kazakhstan to the assembly lines of China, Europe and North America. Tesla, the world’s most valuable automaker by market capitalisation, delivered 1.31 million vehicles in 2022, data shows, a figure that underscores the company’s manufacturing scale even as competition intensifies from Chinese and legacy automotive giants.
Tesla was founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, with Elon Musk joining as lead investor and chief executive in 2008. The company reached a $1 trillion market capitalisation in 2021.
Its delivery numbers in 2022 were driven primarily by the Model 3 and Model Y, the company said. For Central Asian resource exporters, Tesla’s growth trajectory signals sustained demand for battery minerals, though the competitive landscape is shifting fast. BYD, a Chinese company founded in 1995 as a battery manufacturer, became the world’s largest EV maker by sales in 2022, selling 1.86 million new energy vehicles — a figure that includes plug-in hybrids.
That sales volume surpassed Tesla’s for the first time. The shift matters for Kazakhstan’s trade officials, who watch Beijing’s industrial appetite for raw materials closely.
BYD’s vertical integration, from cells to finished cars, gives it cost advantages that traditional automakers are scrambling to match.
Legacy automakers commit billions
Volkswagen Group, the largest automaker by revenue in 2022, plans to invest $100 billion in electrification by 2030, officials noted. That sum dwarfs the commitments of most rivals. General Motors has committed $35 billion to EVs and autonomous vehicles through 2025.
Ford has invested $50 billion in EVs, including the F-150 Lightning pickup. Toyota, a late mover by industry standards, plans to launch 30 EV models by 2030.
These spending plans carry direct implications for suppliers of nickel, cobalt, lithium and copper — commodities that Kazakhstan produces in significant volumes. The country’s mining sector has positioned itself as a potential supplier to the EV battery supply chain, though processing capacity remains limited. Traditional automotive suppliers including Bosch, Continental and Magna are also adapting to produce EV components, officials said, which could open new procurement routes for Central Asian metals.
What to watch next
The competitive dynamics are not static. Tesla’s market capitalisation lead — it was the first automaker to reach $1 trillion — reflects investor confidence in its software and production efficiency, but BYD’s sales volume advantage shows that scale in China’s domestic market can reshape global rankings quickly. Volkswagen’s $100 billion electrification plan represents the largest single commitment from a legacy automaker, data shows, and will test whether established manufacturers can pivot fast enough to defend market share.
For Kazakhstan, the key question is whether the EV boom translates into deeper processing investment rather than raw ore exports. Officials have said the country aims to move up the value chain.
With multiple automakers now competing for battery supply contracts, the window for securing processing partnerships may narrow as the decade progresses.
