1. Introduction
Plug-in hybrid electronic vehicles (PHEV), range extender
battery electronic vehicles (RE BEV) and pure battery electric
vehicles (BEV) are likely to play an important role in future road
traffic, depending on the predicted future regulation scenarios [1].
Currently, the Lithium ion battery technology is of primary interest
to the automotive industry, since it provides one of the best energy
densities available today, e.g. ([2,3]).
The active material of standard Lithium ion battery cells is
represented by stacked or wrapped layers of the cathode and anode
material sheets, which are physically separated by a porous but
mechanically robust separator foil, in order to help prevent an
internal short circuit of the cell. Battery systems in electric vehicles
are protected against deformation by massive structural measures
in order to fulfil federal crash laws, consumer crash tests and other
requirements. Despite these achievements, the knowledge of the
limiting deformability of Lithium ion cells prior to short circuit