For a car, there is no better option than lithium ion. I should say, no better option in real life. There will be future advancements, but no other battery can touch lithium ion's energy density. There are certainly tradeoffs on the environment. There's little that's kind about oil extraction and refining, and in comparison electric is probably better. On the utility side, there are many options. Size is no longer the limiter. I've sat through a couple battery presentations, and the technology depends on the use. Lithium is a thing in that world, but so are NiCd, sodium sulfur and even lead acid. A lot of neat things can happen on the grid with batteries, but mostly it isn't economical to do them today. It might be in the future, maybe even the not-too-distant future.