Lithium insertion has been studied in a number of vanadium oxides with special regard to their application as the active component in rechargeable lithium cells. Very high stoichiometric energy densities for lithium insertion are found for several of these materials. As these oxides are poor electronic conductors, however, the high energy densities are partially offset by the addition of conductive material necessary for practical electrodes. Cycling results are reported for the three-dimensional oxide V₆O₁₃, the layered Li_1+xV₃O₈, and the non-crystalline V₂O₅ xerogel.