Abstract: Some lithium-ion batteries are assembled using a plurality of electrically interconnected battery pouches to obtain the electrical potential and power requirements of the battery application. Such battery pouches may be prepared to contain a stacked grouping, or a wound grouping, of inter-layered and interconnected anodes, cathodes, and separators, each wetted with a liquid electrolyte. A reference electrode, an optional auxiliary reference electrode, and adjacent enclosing modified working electrodes are combined in a specific arrangement and inserted within the stack structure, or the wound structure, of other cell members to enable accurate assessment of both anode group and cathode group performance, and to validate and regenerate reference electrode capability.