Energy storage is the limiting technology for renewable energy, such as wind and solar, and particularly for the next generation of hybrid electric vehicles, the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). If long-lived, low cost and safe batteries or capacitors are to be developed, the materials limitations must be overcome. This presentation will discuss the present status of materials, both bulk and nano, for the next generation of batteries, with an emphasis on the anodes and cathodes for lithium-ion batteries.