A novel hydrothermal synthesis was developed to prepare carbon-coated lithium vanadium phosphate (Li3V2(PO4)(3)) powders to be used as cathode material for Li-ion batteries. The structural morphological, and electrochemical properties were investigated by means of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry (TG), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and constant current charge-discharge cycling. This material exhibits high initial discharge capacity of 178, 173 and 172 mAh g(-1) at 0.1, 0.2 and 0.5C between 3.0 and 4.8V, respectively. Moreover, it displays good fast rate performance, which discharge capacities of 136, 132 and 127 mAh g(-1) can be delivered after 100 cycles between 3.0 and 4.8 V versus Li at a different rate of 1, 2 and 5 C, respectively. For comparison, the electrochemical properties of carbon-coated lithium vanadium phosphate prepared by traditional solid-state reaction (SSR) method are also studied. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.