A physical-chemical model is suggested, which is able to describe the enhanced discharge rate capability of lithium-ion cells by using laser-structured graphite anodes. Recently published test data of coin cells comprising unstructured and structured graphite anodes with LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 cathodes is used for the presented purpose of modeling, simulation and validation. To minimize computational demand, a homogenized three-dimensional model of a representative hole structure is developed, accounting for charge and mass transport throughout the cell layers and one-dimensional diffusion within radial-symmetric particles. First, a standard pseudo-two-dimensional model is calibrated against rate capability test data of coin cells with unstructured anodes. The calibrated parameter set is transferred to the three-dimensional model in order to simulate the transient voltage response and the discharged capacity depending on the applied C-rate. The simulation data shows excellent agreement with experimental data for both cell types. Three stages of rate capability enhancement are identified showing an improved relative capacity retention of 11-24% at 3C. Experimental and simulation data reveal a restricted C-rate window, which can be positively affected by the structuring process, whereas both shape and pattern of the structuring process can be further optimized with the model. (c) The Author(s) 2018. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.