Fast charging is critical for the application of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. Conventional fast charging algorithms may shorten the cycle life of lithium-ion batteries and induce safety problems, such as internal short circuit caused by lithium deposition at the negative electrode. In this paper, a novel, non-destructive model-based fast charging algorithm is proposed. The fast charging algorithm is composed of two closed loops. The first loop includes an anode over-potential observer that can observe the status of lithium deposition online, whereas the second loop includes a feedback structure that can modify the current based on the observed status of lithium deposition. The charging algorithm enhances the charging current to maintain the observed anode over-potential near the preset threshold potential. Therefore, the fast charging algorithm can decrease the charging time while protecting the health of the battery. The fast charging algorithm is validated on a commercial large-format nickel cobalt manganese graphite cell. The results showed that 96.8% of the battery capacity can be charged within 52 min. The post-mortem observation of the surface of the negative electrode and degradation tests revealed that the fast charging algorithm proposed here protected the battery from lithium deposition. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.