Lithium-ion cell field failures due to internal short circuits are a significant concern to the entire lithium-ion cell market from consumer electronics to electric vehicles. While the probability of these failure events occurring is estimated to be very low (1 in 5-10 million), the consequences of a cell failure due to an internal short in a high energy battery system have the potential to be catastrophic. The statistical probability of one of these events is very low and they are difficult to predict and simulate in a laboratory using some external test; which makes cell failure due to an internal short circuit a unique challenge to overcome. Several of the experiments designed to simulate internal shorts have been adopted as testing protocols across the industry; in general, they do not accurately simulate an internal short. This work highlights our efforts to experimentally trigger an internal short circuit in a lithium-ion cell. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.