Booming Production and Sales, Energy Storage Leads: Battery Industry Delivers Strong August Performance

Gasgoo Munich-The China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance recently released its monthly data for August 2026, and the numbers are flashing green across every major metric—output, sales, installations, and exports. Combined production of power and energy storage batteries hit 237 GWh, surging nearly 70% from a year ago. Exports rose87.5%, as overseas demand continued to unlock; meanwhile, domestic power battery installations climbed steadily to 79 GWh.

Behind this surge in output and sales lie the sector’s key trends for August: exponential growth in energy storage batteries, the continued dominance of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry, and subtle shifts among the industry’s top players.

Production, Sales, and Exports Heat Up, with Energy Storage Leading the Charge

The battery industry remained firmly in a high-growth lane throughout August.

On the production front, combined output of power and energy storage batteries reached 237 GWh for the month—an 8.8% increase from July and a 69.8% jump from last year. Cumulative output for the first eight months hit 1,523.9 GWh, up 57% annually. That near-70% monthly growth rate, achieved on top of a high base, underscores the supply chain’s aggressive scheduling and sustains the expansion momentum seen throughout the year.

Breaking it down by chemistry, LFP remains the absolute driver of output expansion. NCM (ternary) battery production stood at 41.2 GWh, accounting for 17.4% of the total and rising 33.5% year-on-year. LFP batteries, however, hit 195.3 GWh—an 82.4% share that surged 79.8%, outpacing the industry as a whole. For the January-August period, LFP production totaled 1,249.6 GWh, or 82% of the cumulative total, climbing 63.3%. This further cements a supply structure defined by LFP dominance and NCM support.

Image source: China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance (same below)

The sales figures offer even more insight. Combined sales of power and energy storage batteries reached 223.1 GWh in August, up 20.5% month-over-month and 65.9% year-over-year. By category, power battery sales came in at 146.8 GWh—a 65.8% share that rose 48.5% annually. Energy storage battery sales, meanwhile, hit 76.3 GWh, accounting for 34.2% of the total with a massive 114.3% annual jump and a 36% monthly increase.

The boom in energy storage isn’t a one-month spike. From January to August, cumulative sales reached 450.5 GWh, an 83.8% annual increase that lifted the sector’s share of total sales to 32.5%—up 5.9 percentage points from last year. Notably, 99.96% of these units were LFP batteries, making energy storage almost an exclusive track for that chemistry. As demand for utility-scale and commercial storage systems concentrates, it is carving out a clear second growth curve for the lithium battery industry.

The power battery foundation remains just as solid. In August, LFP battery sales hit 114.7 GWh, claiming a 78.2% share with a 55.1% annual gain, while ternary battery sales reached 31.6 GWh, or 21.5%, growing 27.9%. For the first eight months, cumulative power battery sales totaled 937.2 GWh, up 38.7% overall. LFP and ternary batteries contributed 700.7 GWh and 234.6 GWh respectively, with growth rates of 41.7% and 30.5%.

Overseas markets are staying hot. Total exports for August came to 42.4 GWh, rising 20.4% month-over-month and 87.5% year-over-year, representing 19.0% of the month’s total sales. Breaking that down, power battery exports reached 24.7 GWh (up 64%), while energy storage exports jumped 134.2% to 17.7 GWh. With its share of exports climbing 9.8 percentage points from the previous month, energy storage has become the most dynamic variable. Cumulative exports for January-August hit 259.0 GWh, a 49.6% increase. Companies like CALB, BYD, Gotion, and EVE Energy are outpacing the industry average in export growth, confirming the continued realization of Chinese battery makers' global supply capabilities.

Installations Grow Steadily with Shifting Landscape; Upstream Supply Chain Gains in Tandem

The heat on the production and sales side ultimately faces a test at the vehicle level, and August’s domestic installation data provided a resounding confirmation.

Domestic power battery installations reached 79 GWh for the month, up 5.9% from July and 26.3% from a year ago. Cumulative installations for the first eight months totaled 489.1 GWh, a 17.0% annual increase. While this pace is more measured compared to the near-70% surge in output and sales, it reflects a shift in the domestic new energy vehicle market away from rapid adoption and toward steady, sustainable growth.

On the materials front, LFP’s advantage continues to widen. LFP battery installations hit 67.6 GWh in August, claiming an 85.6% share with a 31.0% annual increase, while ternary installations stood at 11.0 GWh, or 14.0%, with a negligible 0.9% rise. Year-to-date, LFP installations totaled 402.7 GWh (82.3% of the total), up 18.3%, compared to 85.6 GWh for ternary (17.5%), up 10.6%. The surge in plug-in hybrid models, combined with technological advancements and cost benefits, has collectively driven up LFP’s market share.

LFP’s dominance is also backed by authoritative views. At a media briefing for the China EV 100 Annual Meeting and Smart Electric Vehicle Development High-Level Forum (2027) on September 15, Zhang Yongwei, chairman of the China EV 100 Research Institute, cited Ouyang Minggao’s assessment. He noted that LFP will continue to lead among liquid batteries, with shipments already breaking the 1 TWh barrier. Looking ahead, hybrid solid-liquid and sodium-ion batteries are expected to accelerate in volume over the next year or two. Sodium-ion batteries are already seeing scaled adoption in energy storage, low-speed vehicles, and start-stop applications, while all-solid-state batteries remain focused on engineering verification, with mass adoption expected between 2030 and 2035.

In terms of vehicle mix, pure electric vehicles accounted for 84.3% of installations in August, rising 29.3%, while plug-in hybrids made up 15.7%, up 12.5%. Average battery capacity per vehicle continued to climb, hitting 69.0 kWh in August—a 27.9% annual increase. For pure electric and plug-in hybrid passenger cars, the averages were 64.2 kWh and 41.2 kWh, respectively. The year-to-date average came in at 69.5 kWh, up 33.1%.

The corporate landscape is characterized by "concentration at the top and chasing from the tiers." In August, 31 companies achieved installations, with the top 2, top 5, and top 10 players accounting for 62.1%, 80.3%, and 94.1% of the market, respectively. CATL led the pack with 32.54 GWh and a 41.45% share, followed closely by BYD at 16.47 GWh and 20.98%. CALB, EVE Energy, and Gotion formed a distinct second tier. For the first eight months, CATL and BYD recorded cumulative installations of 218.2 GWh and 88.1 GWh, holding market shares of 44.7% and 18.1%. The total number of participating companies dropped by nine compared to last year, signaling an accelerated concentration of resources among the market leaders.

End-market growth is transmitting upward along the supply chain. According to the Alliance’s estimates, the industry consumed 82,000 tons of ternary materials, 488,000 tons of LFP materials, 332,000 tons of anode materials, and 4.74 billion square meters of separators in August. Electrolyte consumption for ternary and LFP chemistries stood at 37,000 tons and 293,000 tons, respectively. Material consumption climbed across the board from January to August, as the midstream boom translates into tangible orders for upstream suppliers (figures exclude direct exports).

In summary, August’s data boils down to five key themes: surging output and sales, energy storage leading the charge, accelerating exports, steady installations, and LFP dominance. As peak-season scheduling aligns with global demand, the certainty of full-year growth for the power battery sector continues to strengthen. The evolution of technological roadmaps and the competitive landscape will, in turn, keep shaping the industry’s trajectory.