CATL and BYD Still Own More Than Half of the Global EV Battery Market

New figures from South Korean research firm SNE Research show that the world’s EV batteries carried 844.2 GWh of installed capacity between January and August 2026, a 19.7 percent jump compared with the same stretch last year. August alone accounted for 116.8 GWh, up 14.3 percent year-on-year. Those numbers cover pure electric cars alongside plug-in and conventional hybrids.

CATL kept its grip on the top spot, installing 333.0 GWh over the eight months — a 25.2 percent gain that ran ahead of the wider market. That lifted its slice of the pie to 39.4 percent, though the figure slipped half a point from the 39.9 percent seen through July. BYD stayed second at 127.9 GWh, up 6.2 percent, giving it 15.1 percent of the market. Together the two Chinese giants hold 54.6 percent, essentially matching July and only a whisker under the 54.8 percent they shared a year earlier.

The rest of the ranking tells a story of diverging fortunes. LG Energy Solution clung to third with 68.3 GWh but grew just 0.9 percent, and its North American volumes tumbled 42.3 percent as US electric-vehicle demand stayed weak. SK On was the lone top-10 name to shrink outright, down 14.5 percent. By contrast, CALB climbed 32.6 percent, Gotion 47.1 percent and EVE Energy 53.9 percent, while Rept Battero posted the fastest growth of all at 126.3 percent.

Chinese suppliers now account for seven of the ten largest battery makers and 73.3 percent of the global market, up 3.6 points from a year ago. Regionally, South America expanded fastest at 179.9 percent, followed by Asia outside China at 76 percent and Europe at 29.2 percent, while China grew 16.9 percent. North America was the clear laggard, contracting 23.7 percent to 73.1 GWh as some manufacturers redirected EV cell lines toward energy storage.