Temperature has a significant impact on life, performance, and safety of lithium-ion battery technology, which is expected to be the energy storage of choice for electric drive vehicles (xEVs). High temperatures degrade Li-ion cells faster while low temperatures reduce power and energy capabilities that could have cost, reliability, range, or drivability implications. Thermal management of battery packs in xEVs is essential to keep the cells in the desired temperature range and also reduce cell-to-cell temperature variations, both of which impact life and performance. The value that the battery thermal management system provides in reducing battery life and improving performance outweighs its additional cost and complexity. Tools that are essential for thermal management of batteries are infrared thermal imaging, isothermal calorimetry, thermal conductivity meter and computer-aided thermal analysis design software. This presentation provides details of these tools that NREL has used and we believe are needed to design right-sized battery thermal management systems.