The recently discovered self-heating lithium ion battery has shown rapid self-heating from subzero temperatures and superior power thereafter, delivering a practical solution to poor battery performance at low temperatures. Here, we describe and validate an electrochemical-thermal coupled model developed specifically for computational design and improvement of the self-heating Li-ion battery (SHLB) where nickel foils are embedded in its structure. Predicting internal cell characteristics, such as current, temperature and Li-concentration distributions, the model is used to discover key design factors affecting the time and energy needed for self-heating and to explore advanced cell designs with the highest self heating efficiency. It is found that ohmic heat generated in the nickel foil accounts for the majority of internal heat generation, resulting in a large internal temperature gradient from the nickel foil toward the outer cell surface. The large through-plane temperature gradient leads to highly non-uniform current distribution, and more importantly, is found to be the decisive factor affecting the heating time and energy consumption. A multi-sheet cell design is thus proposed and demonstrated to substantially minimize the temperature gradient, achieving 30% more rapid self-heating with 27% less energy consumption than those reported in the literature. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.