With an increasing demand in traction battery performance for electrified vehicles, thermal management definition and temperature uniformity specifications are a moving target for supplier product development and OEM system integration. Alternative cell formats, integration schemes and cell-to-pack scaling are trending stop-gaps to this challenge. Highlights of select vehicle system benchmarks and the evolving demands for lithium-ion battery thermal management will be discussed with focus on scaled temperature gradients, heat transfer efficiency, as well as system volume, weight, and cost. Recent efforts by the United States Advanced Battery Consortium to define such targets and SAE standards defining battery thermal management systems will be also be explored.