Carbon-coated Li3V2(PO4)(3) was firstly prepared at 850 degrees C via two-step reaction method combined sol-gel and conventional solid-state synthesis by using VPO4/carbon as an intermediate. Two different carbon sources, citric acid and glucose as carbon additives in sequence, ultimately deduced double carbon-coated Li3V2(PO4)(3) as a high-rate cathode material. The Li3V2(PO4)(3)/carbon with 4.39% residual carbon has a splendid electronic conductivity of 4.76x10(-2) S cm(-1). Even in the voltage window of 2.5-4.8 V, the Li3V2(PO4)(3)/carbon cathode can retain outstanding rate ability (170.4 mAh g(-1) at 1.2 C, 101.9 mAh g(-1) at 17 C), and no degradation is found after 120 C current rate. These phenomena show that the two-step carbon-coated Li3V2(PO4)(3) can act as a fast charge-discharge cathode material for high-power Li-ion batteries. Furthermore, it's believed that this synthesize method can be easily transplanted to prepare other lithiated vanadium-based phosphates. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.