Owing to the present exponential development of portable consumer electronics and to the increasing concern about the environment, new energy sources are required that provide more energy in the same volume and/or mass. Within a short period of time, less than three years, many changes in the area of rechargeable batteries for the consumer market have occurred, along with the emergence of several new technologies. The ubiquitous Ni-Cd cells, which are environmentally unfriendly because of the toxicity of Cd, will be replaced by Ni-metal hydride, rocking-chair lithium (or Li-ion), and lithium polymer electrolyte rechargeable cells. This paper reviews recent advances in the field of Li-ion rechargeable batteries.