In this paper a 3D model based on the thermal material characteristics of an automotive prismatic Li–NiMnCoO2 (NMC) cell was created in COMSOL Multiphysics® in order to simulate the temperature propagation in the cell during short term thermal stress. The thermal characteristics of the battery components were experimentally determined via laser flash analysis (LFA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and used as an input parameter for the models. In order to validate the modelling approach, an experimental setup was built to measure the temperature propagation during thermal stresses within a dummy cell, equipped with temperature sensors. After validating, the model is used to describe the temperature propagation after a short-term temperature stress on automotive prismatic lithium-ion cells, simulating welding of the contact leads.