There sure are, however, @Romiya showed a good chart that compared to one battery style in comparison to a Lithium battery and the lithium battery is light years ahead at this stage. Toyota are sticking with the Nickel Hydride battery in their Prius for Australia only; though that's for a hybrid vehicle only, it would be difficult to do the same with a pure electric when weight is taken into account.
At this time Chinese manufacturers look set on the Lithium battery and the price reflects how much of a lack in alternative there is at this time.
Have you considered how little lithium is in a battery and because of that how much the price could climb? Based on some research I have done doubling the lithium price would be no issue and there has been no stopping the price hikes so far.
Any alternative would need to prove itself, and people are coming to expect that any battery powered device uses lithium.
