A method for modelling the thermal behaviour of a lithium-ion battery (LIB) during charge is presented. The effect of charge conditions on the thermal behaviour is examined by means of the finite element method. A comparison of the experimental charge curves with the modelling results validates the two-dimensional modelling of the potential and current density distribution on the electrodes of an LIB as a function of charge time during constant-current charge followed by constant-voltage charge. The heat generation rates as a function of the charge time and the position on the electrodes are calculated to predict the temperature distributions of the LIB based on the modelling results for potential and current density distributions. The temperature distributions obtained from the modelling are in good agreement with the experimental measurements. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.