Cui Dongshu: In September, China's total output of power and other batteries reached 237GWh, a year-on-year increase of 57%.

Cui Dongshu, President of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), published an analysis of the new energy vehicle lithium battery market: In September, China's combined output of power and other batteries reached 237GWh, up 57% year-on-year; from January to September, China's combined output of power and other batteries reached 1,833GWh, up 63% year-on-year. This year, battery growth has gradually slowed from above 60%; due to weak demand for power batteries and adjustments to export tax rebates, battery demand has gradually decelerated. In September 2026, lithium battery installations were 87GWh, up 15% year-on-year. From January to September 2026, lithium battery installations were 576GWh, up 17% year-on-year. In 2025, the share of power battery output going into vehicle installations fell to 44%; in September 2026, the share of power battery output going into vehicle installations was 37%, of which ternary batteries accounted for a 35% installation rate and lithium iron phosphate accounted for a 37% installation rate. In September 2026, installations in China's domestic lithium battery vehicle market were 1.26 million units, down 12% year-on-year, of which pure electric passenger vehicles were 810,000 units, down 6% year-on-year; plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles were 350,000 units, down 29% year-on-year; pure electric trucks were 82,000 units, up 22%. This output data shows severe divergence. In Q3 2026, models with battery energy density above 160 accounted for 9%, a clear rebound from 7% in the same period of 2025, mainly due to some recovery in high-end demand for ternary batteries. Meanwhile, the share of products with energy density below 125 fell to 0% in 2026.