China's EV Battery Installations Hit 87.2 GWh in September, a New 2026 Peak

China’s domestic electric vehicle battery market set another annual record in September, even as the pace of growth continued to ease. According to figures published by the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance (CABIA), installations of power batteries for new energy vehicles totaled 87.2 GWh during the month — a 14.7% increase over September of last year and a 10.4% gain compared with August. That pushed the monthly total past August’s 79.0 GWh to mark the second straight month of fresh highs for 2026, though the year-on-year expansion has now cooled for two consecutive months, sliding from 33.5% in July and 26.3% in August to its weakest reading since April.

The chemistry split tells much of the story. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) packs accounted for 74.5 GWh, up 19.9% year-on-year and 10.3% month-on-month, itself a new high for the year. LFP’s share of total installations came in at 85.5%, a hair below August’s record 85.6% and enough to end a three-month streak of all-time-high market share. Ternary batteries, by contrast, slipped 10.9% year-on-year to 12.3 GWh, although they recovered 11.7% from August — snapping three straight months of sequential declines. Their share edged up to 14.1% from 14.0% but remains well under where it stood a year ago.

Across the first nine months of 2026, cumulative domestic installations reached 576.3 GWh, representing 16.7% growth over the same period last year — marginally softer than the 17.0% recorded through August. LFP volumes over that stretch totaled 477.2 GWh, up 18.5% and good for 82.8% of the market, while ternary chemistries managed 97.9 GWh, up 7.3% and a 17.0% share.

CABIA attributed the three-quarter performance to two forces: a broader rollout of commercial new energy vehicles and rising battery capacity fitted to each vehicle. Battery-electric trucks and special-purpose vehicles were singled out as particularly strong contributors to the increase. The picture was equally buoyant on the manufacturing side, where combined output of power and energy storage batteries hit 237.8 GWh in September — 57.3% higher year-on-year and just 0.3% above August, indicating that production is running roughly flat at record levels as the year heads into its final quarter.

The trend lines point to a market that is still expanding but no longer accelerating at the furious rate seen earlier in the year, with LFP’s cost advantages continuing to shape which vehicles get built and in what volumes.