Mechanical properties and failure mechanisms of battery separators play a crucial role in integrity of Lithium-ion batteries during an electric vehicle crash event. In this study, four types of commonly used battery separators are characterized and their mechanical performance, strength, and failure are compared. This includes two dry-processed polyethylene (PE) and trilayer separators, a wet-processed ceramic-coated separator, and a nonwoven separator. In detail, uniaxial tensile tests were performed along machine direction (MD), transverse direction (TD) and diagonal direction (DD). Also, through thickness compression tests and biaxial punch tests were conducted. Comprehensive mechanical tests revealed interesting deformation and failure patterns under extreme mechanical loads. Last, a finite element model of PE separator was developed in LSDYNA based on the uniaxial tensile and through thickness compression test data. The model succeeded in predicting the response of PE separator under punch tests with different sizes of punch head. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.