Nowadays, battery design must be considered a multi-disciplinary activity focused on product sustainability in terms of environmental impacts and cost. The paper reviews the design tools and methods in the context of Li-ion battery packs. The discussion focuses on different aspects, from thermal analysis to management and safety. The paper aims to investigate what has been achieved in the last twenty years to understand current and future tren. Nowadays, battery design must be considered a multi-disciplinary activity focused on product sustainability in terms of environmental impacts and cost. The paper reviews the design tools and methods in the context of Li-ion battery packs. The discussion focuses on different aspects, from thermal analysis to management and safety. The paper aims to investigate what has been achieved in the last twenty years to understand current and future trends when designing battery packs. The goal is to analyze the methods for defining the battery pack's layout and structure using tools for modeling, simulations, life cycle analysis, optimization, and machine learning. The target concerns electric and hybrid vehicles and energy storage systems in general. The paper makes an original classification of past works defining seven levels of design approaches for battery packs. The final discussion analyzes the correlation between the changes in the design methods and the increasing demand for battery packs. The outcome of this paper allows the reader to analyze the evolutions of the design methods and practices in battery packs and to understand future developments.••••The design methods of Li-ion batteries have been changing for twenty years.••Recent design methods are focused on optimization and life cycle improvements.••Battery design and manufacturing decisions will be integrated in the future.••Data-driven approaches are emerging with the possibility of a user-centered design.••A. Design methodsDesign optimizationDesign for XLi-ion batteriesLi-ion batteries are changing our lives due to their capacity to store a high energy density with a suitable output power level, providing a long lifespan. Despite the evident advantages, the design of Li-ion batteries requires continuous optimizations to improve aspects such as cost, energy management, thermal management, weight, sustainability, crashworthiness, etc. What kind of tools and methods are involved in designing Li-ion batteries? This review paper analyzes the changes and developments in battery design methods investigating what happened in the last twenties. During this period, Li-ion batteries have been used in different fields such as electronic devices, smart-home, transportation, etc. The paper analyzes the design practices for Li-ion battery packs employed in applications such as battery vehicles and similar energy storage systems.Twenty years ago, papers described that the design of electric vehicles (EVs) could change due to the limits of lead/acid batteries. Studies and experiments provided new perspectives introducing the Li-ion technology. Scholars began considering Li-ion batteries as the most promising storage solution for future EVs. Over the past ten years, Li-ion batteries have replaced lead/acid ones in many applications, and the market share of Li-ion batteries will eventually surpass the lead/acid batteries by 2027.A Li-ion battery pack is a complex system with specific architecture, electrical schemes, controls, sensors, communication systems, and management systems. Current battery systems come with advanced characteristics and features; for example, novel systems can interact with the hosting application (EVs, drones, photovoltaic systems, grid, etc.). The.