The performance and cost of a bipolar plate cell design for a 40kWh lithium-air battery was estimated and compared to USABC goals. A bipolar plate cell design for a lithium-air battery can meet the cell performance goals, provided certain cell design targets are met. In particular, the excess lithium should be <2×, the current density should be >40mAcm−2, the cathode capacity should be >1650mAhg−1 carbon, and the bipolar plate material density should be <5gcm−3. Meeting the above targets, the specific and volumetric energy densities for the lithium-air cell were estimated at 640Whkg−1 and 600Whl−1, respectively; the specific and volumetric power densities were estimated at 1310Wkg−1 and 1220Wl−1, respectively. However, the system cost goal of $100kWh−1 for electric vehicles was not met; the cost of a 40kWh lithium-air battery system using a bipolar plate design was estimated at $238kWh−1.