Yeah, right now, batteries are about the best we have after liquid fuels.
The real advantages a liquid fuel has is that you only carry the fuel. The oxidizer you need to complete the combustion event to generate energy you pick up in the air along the way; essentially it is free. And the environment also has the ability to absorb the combustion products produced, which are also expelled along the way. You don't have to carry them with you.
In a battery, the energy density is much more limited and you have to carry the box with you all the way. You can refill it a very large number of times, but in essence it is the same box that you start with. Still heavy. Relatively short range on the travel distance before recharge, too.
Fuel cells offer an increase in efficiency, but a number of problems still need to be worked out. For instance, manufacturing cost is a big problem, and the cells are still hypersensitive to poisoning from less than perfect reagents. Maybe at some point in the future, a cell can be perfected that will be cheap if manufactured in mass quantities and relatively tolerant to the dirty real world.
One can hope, anyway. I am not sure at this point my remaining life span will allow me to see these modern miracles reform the modes of transportation of the masses. I'll have to stick to my carbon fiber bicycle for super efficient transportation until then.
Cheers,
PH