Gasgoo Munich- Batteries are the heart of the new-energy vehicle industry, making monthly battery data a vital barometer of the sector's health.
The latest September 2026 data from the China Automotive Power Battery Innovation Alliance (the "Battery Alliance") shows that China's power and energy storage battery production and sales remain elevated, exports show continued resilience, and the installation mix keeps tilting toward lithium iron phosphate (LFP).
Behind the surging numbers lies more than arithmetic — it’s the simultaneous evolution of demand dynamics, technology pathways, and the broader market landscape.
Production and Sales Hit Highs, Energy Storage Opens a Second Growth Curve
Battery Alliance data shows combined production of power and energy storage batteries hit 237.8 GWh in September — edging up 0.3% from August and jumping 57.3% from a year earlier. Output for the first nine months totaled 1,833.1 GWh, a 63.4% annual gain.
Source: China Automotive Power Battery Innovation Alliance (same below)
By operational rhythm, monthly output has settled onto a high plateau, with the first three quarters' production and sales already surpassing last year's full-year totals. Rather than easing as the base effect climbs, the industry is maintaining strong utilization rates, propelled by unleashed demand and overseas orders.
The structural shifts on the sales side warrant a closer look.
Combined sales reached 222.7 GWh in September — slipping 0.2% from August but surging 52% year-on-year. Power battery sales stood at 149.2 GWh, making up 67% of the total, a 1.7% monthly gain and a 35% annual jump. Energy storage battery sales hit 73.5 GWh, claiming a 33% share and more than doubling with a 104.4% annual increase. For the first nine months, energy storage sales totaled 595.4 GWh — a 111.8% year-on-year surge — claiming 35.4% of overall sales, up 9.1 percentage points from a year earlier.
If power batteries anchor the baseline through the EV market, energy storage is emerging as the industry’s second growth curve. As storage use cases multiply, battery makers are unlocking new shipment channels beyond passenger cars.
Within the LFP chemistry, storage has become a critical growth driver: LFP claimed a full 100% of energy storage sales in September, and nearly 99.97% across the first nine months.
The divergence in technology pathways is equally stark. LFP output reached 202.4 GWh in September, capturing an 85.1% share and climbing 69.4% year-on-year; ternary output stood at 35.0 GWh, taking 14.7%. This isn't a simple substitution — it's the combined outcome of cost, safety, cycle life, and supply chain maturity.
Corporate performance is diverging, too. While overall power and storage sales jumped 52% in September, EVE Energy, Gotion High-Tech, and Sunwoda outpaced the industry average. On the power battery side, where sales climbed 35%, the same trio beat the mean. Top players are defending share through customer ties and scale, while second-tier rivals chase growth elasticity via storage contracts and overseas orders.
Exports, meanwhile, have opened another growth avenue.
Combined exports reached 44.0 GWh in September, edging up 3.7% from August and surging 64.5% year-on-year to account for 19.7% of the month’s sales. Power battery exports totaled 28.4 GWh — a 60.9% annual jump — while storage shipments hit 15.6 GWh, climbing 71.4%. For the first nine months, cumulative exports stood at 302.9 GWh, up 51.6% from a year earlier.
Driven by rising vehicle exports and the ramp-up of overseas plants, Chinese battery makers are evolving from simply shipping products abroad to building out global footprints and industrial synergies.
Installations Gain Momentum, LFP Solidifies as the Dominant Chemistry
Surging production, sales, and exports ultimately face their proving ground at the installation stage.
Domestic power battery installations reached 87.2 GWh in September, advancing 10.4% from August and 14.7% year-on-year. First-nine-month installations totaled 576.3 GWh, a 16.7% annual gain. While far milder than the 50%-plus growth on the production and sales side, the installation pace more closely mirrors the real consumption rhythm of China’s EV market.
By chemistry, LFP’s dominance only deepened. September installations hit 74.5 GWh — an 85.5% share and a 19.9% annual gain — while ternary slipped to 12.3 GWh, claiming 14.1% and dropping 10.9% year-on-year. Over the first nine months, LFP installations totaled 477.2 GWh for an 82.8% share, climbing 18.5%; ternary managed 97.9 GWh, or 17%.
LFP’s grip on the market is backed by authoritative voices. Citing academician Ouyang Minggao, Zhang Yongwei, president of the China EV 100 Research Institute, recently noted that LFP will remain dominant among liquid batteries, with shipments already surpassing 1 TWh. Looking ahead, hybrid solid-liquid and sodium-ion batteries are expected to scale up faster over the next two years. Sodium-ion, in particular, is already gaining commercial traction in energy storage, low-speed vehicles, and start-stop applications. All-solid-state batteries, meanwhile, remain in the engineering validation phase and are unlikely to reach scale until around 2030.
That doesn’t render the ternary route obsolete. For premium long-range, high-performance, or cold-climate applications, ternary cells retain a clear edge in energy density. Among battery-electric passenger cars in September, those packing 140 to 160 Wh/kg accounted for 50% of the mix, while those at 160 Wh/kg or above claimed 8.1%. These high-density segments still leave room for diverse chemistries.
September’s installation rankings confirm that top players still call the shots. CATL led with 35.49 GWh and a 40.92% share, trailed by BYD at 18.29 GWh and 21.09%. CALB, EVE Energy, and Gotion High-Tech followed, installing 6.04 GWh, 5.03 GWh, and 4.87 GWh, respectively. The top two command a combined share north of 60%, leaving second-tier rivals to hunt for incremental volume in commercial vehicles, energy storage, plug-in hybrids, and overseas accounts.
The boost from commercial vehicles warrants attention, too. In September’s new-energy commercial vehicle rankings, CATL claimed a 44.68% share with 9.49 GWh installed, followed by EVE Energy, CALB, BYD, and Gotion High-Tech. Battery-electric trucks and specialty vehicles are penetrating faster in urban delivery and dedicated operations, generating steady replacement demand.
Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the battery industry should maintain its high operating tempo, powered by the typical year-end EV sales push, concentrated delivery of storage projects, and the release of overseas orders. Yet such torrid growth brings its own frictions: price wars, diverging utilization rates, and the test of global compliance. For battery makers, the scale race isn’t over — but the battle over technology, customer loyalty, cost control, and global delivery muscle is just getting started.
