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I think Lithium batteries, in particular LiFePO4s are just the latest and greatest. There are a bunch of other battery technologies that are in the labs right now that have even higher energy density and are made of more common elements. Way before the world runs out of lithium deposits we will be on to the next big thing in battery technology.
Sodium is right next to Lithium in the periodic chart. It belongs to the same class of metals. There are vast amounts of salt (sodium chloride) on this planet. Its one of the cheapest natural chemicals on the planet. Sodium ion batteries could be dirt cheap. Patents have already been files.
How about zinc-air and aluminum-air fuel cells? There is a deep sea surveying vessel that runs on aluminum air batteries. Instead of air they use peroxide to provide the Oxygen, since it has to stay neutrally buoyant. This thing runs for 50 hours on the oceans floor consuming over 1.5kW continuously before it comes up. When it comes up they just refill the peroxide bladder and its off for another 50 hours. That's 75 kWh of energy per 50 hour trip. This is not science fiction... its been used for years in deep sea surveying.
I can see a car battery that will give you 8-12 hours of continuous highway speed driving. After 12 hours of driving you need to take a few hour break anyway, which gives you lots of time to recharge.
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