The performance of polyimide (PI) non-woven separator used in high power lithium ion battery is investigated to evaluate the feasibility of its industrialized application. PI non-woven separator is prepared via an electrospinning method, and electrospinning process parameters are controlled to get a fibrous membrane consisting of bead-free, uniformly dispersed thin fibers with an average diameter of about 491 nm. The as prepared separator with a porosity higher than 90% and relatively high electrolyte uptake exhibits excellent thermal stability without obvious shrinkage at 500 degrees C, and shows sufficient tensile strength of 11 MPa to meet the demand of battery assembly and usage. Laminated lithium-ion battery pack assembled with the PI non-woven separators shows a capacity retention ratio of about 33.6% at super high discharge rate of 28.8 C, and the capacity remains 99.66% after 320 cycles at 5 Crate, exhibiting excellent high-rate discharge capacity and favorable cycling performance, much superior to that of the battery pack assembled with the Celgard polyethylene (PE) separators. The results open great opportunities for the industrialized application of PI electrospun non-woven separator. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.