We report the synthesis of a novel three-dimensional anode based on the core–shell Sn–Ni–Cu-alloy@carbon nanorods which was fabricated by pulse nanoelectrodeposition. Li ion batteries equipped with the three-dimensional anode demonstrated almost 100% capacity retention over 400 cycles at 450 mA g–1 and excellent rate performance even up to 9000 mA g–1 for advanced Li-ion battery. Insight of the high performance can be attributed to three key factors, Li–Sn alloys for Li-ion storage, Ni–Cu matrix for the electronic conductive and nanorods structure, and the carbon shell for the electronic/Li-ion conductive and holding stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), because these shells always kept stable volumes after extension of initial charge–discharge cycles.Keywords: alloy; carbon coating; core−shell; Lithium-ion battery; nanorods; three-dimensional