This work attempts to bridge laboratory and real-life battery testing data with a comprehensive analysis to provide a coherent approach for a realistic model to simulate battery performance, including life prediction. From electric vehicle field-testing results, we explain how to handle real-life data through driving cycle analysis to establish a scheme of "building blocks" that can be validated by test results obtained in the laboratory. We also show that a simple battery model can be built upon laboratory test data and validated by real-life duty cycles, therefore deriving a more realistic understanding and prediction of battery performance. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.