Lithium‐ion batteries have attracted considerable academic and commercial interest due to their higher energy and power density relative to other rechargeable electrochemical systems. Recently, they have been used to power an increasing range of appliances, ranging from implantable medical devices to electric vehicles. Since the commercialization of lithium‐ion batteries by Sony in 1991, there has been an increasing amount of research carried out to further improve their energy density, life cycle, and thermal management. In addition to experimental studies, numerical models have offered new insights into physical phenomena and processes occurring in the cell, and have supported the design optimization of cells and modules. However, given the multiscale and multiphase nature of a cell, the detailed modeling of every aspect of the cell has been difficult to achieve. While thermomechanical issues play a key role in battery design, the importance of broader issues related to cell degradation, safety, manufacturing, and battery management cannot be ignored. As the achievable performance edges closer to the theoretical limits, further gains have to come from major changes, such as new electrode materials, new cell architectures, or transitioning from intercalation to conversion chemistry. Proper consideration of the wide variety of issues that impact battery performance is needed to support further investigation to meet these challenges.