I think you'll find that lithium polymer batteries have a long life in terms of charge / discharge cycles - vastly better than NIMH which is quite low in that regard. LIPOLY also has a higher energy density than the other technologies - vastly better than lead acid. This means you get twice the range for the same weight. Lead acid also needs to be charged at once when depleted or they die through sulphation. LIPOLY seems by far the nest battery technology around at the moment.
Take a look here for more info on battery technologies:
http://batteryuniversity.com/