China's second-tier EV battery makers climb global ranks as overseas installations soar
Seven Chinese makers in the top 10 held 73% of global usage, up from 69.5%.
Chinese battery makers Gotion and EVE Energy climbed SNE Research's global electric-vehicle battery ranking in the first nine months of 2026, with their fastest growth coming outside China. Gotion moved up to fourth and EVE passed Japan's Panasonic for sixth, the South Korean research firm says. SNE counts batteries in electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and hybrids registered or sold in the period, not factory shipments.
Gotion's usage rose 48.1% from a year earlier to 50.3 gigawatt-hours (GWh) worldwide, and EVE's 60.4% to 36.0 GWh, according to SNE's global ranking. Outside China, Gotion's grew 153.8% from a year earlier to 17.6 GWh and EVE's 214.6% to 9.5 GWh, the fastest among the top 10 there, SNE's figures for markets outside China show. The whole market grew 19.7% from a year earlier to about 994.5 GWh worldwide, and 24.7% outside China.
SVOLT showed the same gap, with usage up 37.9% from a year earlier worldwide, to 25.7 GWh, but 102.3% outside China, to 13.1 GWh. By our calculation, more than three-fifths of Gotion's added volume and more than nine-tenths of SVOLT's came from outside China.
The second tier is part of a wider Chinese gain. Seven Chinese makers in the top 10 held 73.0% of global usage, up from 69.5% a year earlier, and six held 56.4% outside China, up from 43.1%. SNE credits their push into commercial vehicles, energy storage and foreign carmakers, and the low cost of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells. LFP's share outside China rose to 27.7% from 15.8% a year earlier.
South Korea's LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI moved the other way: together, their usage outside China fell 13.5% from a year earlier to 113.0 GWh, mostly in North America, where SNE says EV demand weakened after tax credits ended. Samsung SDI's fell furthest among the top 10 outside China, down 34.4% to 15.0 GWh. Eighth a year earlier, it dropped out of the global top 10, battery news site itdcw (电池网) reported, citing SNE.
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