In this paper we report on the development and demonstration of physically consistent three-dimensional models for Lithium Ion Battery (LIB) cells. The discharge behavior of a LIB is a multi-physics and multiscale problem that is simulated using coupled models for thermal, electrical, and electrochemical phenomena. The individual physics models and software are integrated into a new open computational framework for battery simulations which was designed to support a variety of modeling formulations and computer codes. Several cell configurations (unrolled cell, unrolled cell with current collectors, large capacity pouch cell, and cylindrical cell) that show the importance of coupled simulations are simulated using this approach and discussed. A validation study is presented for the pouch cell discharged under high rates to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed modeling framework. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved,