NOVELTY - Lithium ion battery positive electrode material (I) comprises a lithium metal oxide (IIA) or (IIB) coated with a metal/metalloid oxide (0.1-0.75 wt.%) or a metal/metalloid oxide coating composition (less than 2 wt.%), respectively.    USE - (I) is useful in a lithium ion battery (claimed).    ADVANTAGE - (I) with lower amounts of coating material exhibits high specific capacity even at higher discharge rates. (I) exhibits a significant decrease in the rate of fade of specific discharge capacity upon cycling of the battery at reasonable rates. The coatings can be synthesized effectively using techniques that are readily scalable for commercial production. (I) can be synthesized at high tap densities, such that the resulting batteries can exhibit high effective capacities for a given battery volume.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Lithium ion battery positive electrode material (I) comprises a lithium metal oxide of formula (Li1+xM1-xO2-zFz) (IIA) or (Li1+a1NiaMnb1CocAdO2-zFz) (IIB) coated with a metal/metalloid oxide (0.1-0.75 wt.%) or a metal/metalloid oxide coating composition (less than 2 wt.%), respectively. In formula (IIA):    M = non-lithium metal element(s);    x = greater than 0.01 and less than 0.3; and    z = greater than 0 and less than 0.2.    In formula (IIB):    a1 = 0.05-0.3;    a = 0-0.4;    b1 = 0.2-0.65;    c = 0-0.46;    d = 0-0.15;    z = 0.0.2 with the proviso that both a and c are not zero; and    A = Mg, Sr, Ba, Cd, Zn, Al, Ga, B, Zr, Ti, Ca, Ce, Y, Nb, Cr, Fe and/or V.    INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are included for:    (1) a lithium ion battery comprising a positive electrode, a negative electrode comprising a lithium incorporation composition, a separator between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and an electrolyte comprising lithium ions, where the positive electrode comprises an active material, distinct electrically conductive powders, and a polymer binder, the positive electrode active material comprises lithium metal oxide (IIB) coated with a metal/metalloid oxide coating composition (less than 2 wt.%) and the positive electrode active material has a specific discharge capacity of at least 260 mAh/g with a discharge rate of C/3 when discharged at 4.6-2 V at room temperature and a specific discharge capacity of at least 230 mAh/g with a discharge rate of C/3 at the 50th charge/discharge cycle when discharged at 4.6-2 V at room temperature; and    (2) forming a coated positive electrode active composition for a lithium-ion based battery, comprising heating the active material with an aluminum precursor coating to a temperature of 500-800 degrees C.