Efficient battery thermal management technology is critical to the safe operation, long cycle life, and overall cost reduction of lithium-ion batteries and is important in promoting the large-scale application of lithium-ion batteries. In this review, several mainstream battery thermal management technologies are discussed in detail, including air cooling, liquid cooling, new phase change material cooling, and thermoelectric cooling technology. The battery heat generation model is briefly described. Finally, the development direction of battery cooling technology is prospected. Air cooling technology is simple in structure, but it is difficult to ensure temperature uniformity of the cells within the battery pack and is not suitable for cooling large lithium-ion battery packs, but is more suitable for small flying electric devices and low-end electric vehicles. Cooling plate liquid cooling technology is more effective, but there is a risk of coolant leakage and the temperature uniformity needs to be further improved. Immersion liquid cooling technology offers significant cooling and temperature uniformity but is expensive and is likely to be used more often in the future in energy storage plants with high cooling requirements, while for most lithium-ion electric vehicles the lower-cost cooling plate liquid cooling technology is more suitable. Phase change material cooling and thermoelectric cooling technologies without moving parts have achieved initial commercial application in electronic equipment and small power plants, but the cooling efficiency is low and needs further refinement. It is worth noting that it is critical to choose the right cooling technology for the user's needs. While there is no perfect cooling solution, a combination of cooling technologies can be used to meet the thermal management needs of a wider range of application scenarios.