The electrochemical performance of glucose-derived hard carbon (GDHC) anode has been evaluated using Li- and Na-salts in ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate electrolyte mixtures. The LiPF6/EC:PC (1:1) system exhibits high capacity at low current densities (400mAhg−1 at 25mAg−1) and also good power characteristics retaining 150mAhg−1 capacity at 2Ag−1 current density. The best overall performance was achieved with 1M NaPF6/EC:PC (1:1) electrolyte based system with capacities of 175mAhg−1 at 0.1V vs Na/Na+ and 330mAhg−1 at 1.5V vs Na/Na+. The electrode has been physically characterized ex-situ using SEM, Raman and TOF-SIMS methods TOF-SIMS analysis revealed that the solid electrolyte interphase is more inorganic on the negative electrode in the Na-cell than on the negative electrode the Li-cell. The positive ion-specific images established by TOF-SIMS analysis show the non-homogeneous distribution of various fragments from the pristine GDHC, which is caused by slightly inhomogeneous mixture of GDHC and conducting carbon black (Super P®) particles.