Lithium-ion pouch cells were cycled at five different temperatures (5, 15, 25, 35, and 45 degrees C), and rate capability studies were performed after every hundred cycles. The data were used with a simple physics-based model to estimate parameters that capture the capacity fade in the cell, with cycling. The weight of active material within each electrode was estimated as a function of time, using rate capability data at the C/33 rate. The C-rate for these cells is 1.656 A. The capacity fade due to the loss of active material and that due to the loss of cyclable lithium were quantified. It was found that while the loss of cyclable lithium is the limiting cause for the capacity decay of the cell during the first 200 cycles, the loss of active carbon, which is the anode material, becomes limiting for these cells. The loss of active material leads to a drastic decrease in cell capacity at higher temperatures. (c) 2008 The Electrochemical Society.