Thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transformation in intercalation battery electrodes are investigated by phenomenological models which include a mean-field lattice-gas thermodynamic model and a generalized Poisson–Nernst–Planck equation set based on linear irreversible thermodynamics. The application of modeling to a porous intercalation electrode leads to a hierarchical equivalent circuit with elements of explicit physical meanings. The equivalent circuit corresponding to the intercalation particle of planar, cylindrical and spherical symmetry is reduced to a diffusion equation with concentration dependent diffusivity. The numerical analysis of the diffusion equation suggests the front propagation behavior during phase transformation. The present treatment is also compared with the conventional moving boundary and phase field approaches.