This work investigates the heat generation characteristics of a cylindrical lithium-ion battery. The battery consists of the graphite, LiPF6 of the propylene carbonate/ethylene carbonate/dimethyl carbonate (PC/EC/DMC) solution, and spinal as anode, electrolyte and cathode, respectively. The coupled electrochemical–thermal model is developed with full consideration of electrolyte transport properties as functions of temperature and Li ion concentration. A truly conservative finite volume numerical method is employed for the spatial discretization of the model equations. Three types of heat generation sources including the ohmic heat, the active polarization heat and the reaction heat are quantitatively analyzed for the battery discharge process. The ohmic heat is found to be the largest contribution with around 54% in the total heat generation. About 30% of the total heat generation in average is ascribed to the electrochemical reaction. The active polarization contributes the least comparing to the ohmic heat and reactions heat. The results also show that the Li ion concentration and its gradient in electrolyte are the main factors giving the effect on the heat generations of active polarization and electrolyte electric resistance. The raised temperature in the battery discharge is positive related with the thickness of both separator and electrodes.