We synthesize a carbon anode material with unique nanostructure for high power lithium ion batteries. The carbon material is composed of numerous clusters of carbon nanobeads, and shows a macro-meso-micro hierarchical porous structure. This unique nanostructure appears to facilitate the rapid transfer of lithium ions and a very large ion adsorption. It exhibits a reversible capacity of 407.4 mAh g(-1) and its rate performance is drastically improved in comparison with that of the commercial graphite. The unique structure enables the anode to combine the advantages of both lithium ion batteries and electrochemical double layer capacitors, resulting in the good electrochemical performance. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.