CATL‘s domestic EV battery market production share reaches 50.1% in Q1 2026, according to the China Passenger Car Association. The company reached this level for the first time in five years. CATL dominates the ternary NMC battery segment while stepping up in the LFP segment.
Cui Dongshu, the Secretary-General of the China Passenger Car Association, provided the data about the estimated battery market share in Q1 2026. He also shared that China’s total EV battery manufacturing volume reached 310 GWh in the first two months of 2026, up 22% year-over-year. However, the proportion between produced and installed packs reached the historical low of 19%.
In February, around 370,000 batteries were installed on new energy vehicles (BEV+PHEV+EREV), including 100,000 plug-in hybrid cars (down 61%), 236,000 battery electric vehicles (down 41%), and 27,000 electric trucks. This slide is caused by the short-term decrease in demand for EVs in China due to the gradual phasing-out of governmental subsidies.
According to CPCA data, 15% of batteries installed on cars in the first quarter of 2026 boasted an energy density of over 160 Wh/kg. At the same time, the share of batteries with an energy density below 125 Wh/kg dropped to 0%. The main battery energy density range for battery electric cars is between 125 and 160 Wh/kg.
Cui Dongshu shared that CATL’s battery manufacturing share rose to 50.1% in Q1 2026. It is the first time the world’s biggest battery maker reached a share of above 50%. It is worth noting that CATL’s share in the ternary NMC battery segment hit 81.6% as BYD made a full-scale transition to lithium iron phosphate batteries. The CATL’s LFP battery share is 41% in Q1 2026, the highest in four years.
BYD reached a share of 17.5% in the first quarter of 2026, down 4.3% year-over-year. It is the weakest result in five years. However, the company holds 22.6% of the LFP battery segment. Below are ten battery makers in China ranked by market share in Q1 2026.
| Place | Battery Maker | Total share | NMC share | LFP share |
| 1 | CATL | 50.1% | 81.6% | 41% |
| 2 | BYD | 17.% | 0% | 22.6% |
| 3 | Gotion | 6.1% | 0.4% | 7.7% |
| 4 | CALB | 5.3% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| 5 | EVE | 5% | 1.1% | 6.1% |
| 6 | Rept Battero | 3.1% | 0% | 4% |
| 7 | Sunwoda | 2.8% | 0.2% | 3.6% |
| 8 | SVOLT | 2.5% | 7.6% | 1.1% |
| 9 | Zenergy | 2.1% | 0.3% | 2.6% |
| 10 | Zhejiang Yaoning | 1.8% | 0% | 2.4% |
In the following years, the competition between battery makers is expected to move to new segments, such as sodium-ion and solid-state batteries. China plans to release a solid-state battery standard in July 2026. And BYD is ready to commence volume production of sodium-ion batteries in 2027.
