A method to control a charging operation of a lithium ion battery, comprising: - measuring, using one or more sensors (64, 66) of the lithium ion battery, one or more parameters of the lithium ion battery during the charging operation; - determining, by a battery management system configured to electrically couple to the lithium ion battery, lithium plating reaction kinetics at an anode of the lithium ion battery using an electrochemical model, determining a quantity of plated lithium at the anode of the lithium ion battery, or a combination thereof; - indicating, by the battery management system, a relationship between the one or more monitored parameters and the lithium plating reaction kinetics, the quantity of plated lithium, or the combination thereof using the electrochemical model; and - controlling, by the battery management system, the charging operation of the lithium ion battery based on the indicated relationship, wherein the method further comprises: - varying a state of charge of the lithium ion battery and performing electrochemical tests to determine overpotentials of cathode and an anode of the lithium ion battery and a plating current associated with lithium plating at the anode; - calibrating the electrochemical model using results from the electrochemical tests to model a negative overpotential and a plating current limit as a function of a state of charge of the lithium ion battery module; and - generating a current limit map to prevent lithium plating using the modeled plating current limit, wherein the current limit map describes plating current limit as a function of a temperature and a state of charge of the lithium ion battery for a variety of charging current pulse durations, wherein the indicated relationship is the current limit to be used for pulse charging of the lithium ion battery, the current limit being based on a correlation between a monitored state of charge, a monitored temperature, and a duration of charging current pulses defined by the current limit map, and wherein the method further comprises: - controlling, by the battery management system, the charging current provided to the lithium ion battery as a function of outputs generated by the electrochemical model relating to lithium plating at the anode; and - controlling, by the battery management system, pulse duration and current level of the charging current as a function of the monitored state of charge of the lithium ion battery and optionally the monitored temperature of the lithium ion battery according to plating current limits generated by the electrochemical model. - measuring, using one or more sensors (64, 66) of the lithium ion battery, one or more parameters of the lithium ion battery during the charging operation; - determining, by a battery management system configured to electrically couple to the lithium ion battery, lithium plating reaction kinetics at an anode of the lithium ion battery using an electrochemical model, determining a quantity of plated lithium at the anode of the lithium ion battery, or a combination thereof; - indicating, by the battery management system, a relationship between the one or more monitored parameters and the lithium plating reaction kinetics, the quantity of plated lithium, or the combination thereof using the electrochemical model; and - controlling, by the battery management system, the charging operation of the lithium ion battery based on the indicated relationship, - varying a state of charge of the lithium ion battery and performing electrochemical tests to determine overpotentials of cathode and an anode of the lithium ion battery and a plating current associated with lithium plating at the anode; - calibrating the electrochemical model using results from the electrochemical tests to model a negative overpotential and a plating current limit as a function of a state of charge of the lithium ion battery module; and - generating a current limit map to prevent lithium plating using the modeled plating current limit, wherein the current limit map describes plating current limit as a function of a temperature and a state of charge of the lithium ion battery for a variety of charging current pulse durations, - controlling, by the battery management system, the charging current provided to the lithium ion battery as a function of outputs generated by the electrochemical model relating to lithium plating at the anode; and - controlling, by the battery management system, pulse duration and current level of the charging current as a function of the monitored state of charge of the lithium ion battery and optionally the monitored temperature of the lithium ion battery according to plating current limits generated by the electrochemical model.