Given the growing demand for increased energy capacity and power density in battery systems, ensuring thermal safety in lithium-ion batteries has become a significant challenge for the coming decade. Effective thermal management plays a crucial role in battery design optimization. Air-cooling temperatures in vehicles often vary from ambient due to internal ventilation, with external air potentially overheating due to vehicle malfunctions. This article highlights the efficiency of lateral side air cooling in battery packs, suggesting a need for further exploration beyond traditional front side methods. In this study, we examine the impact of three different temperature levels and two distinct air-cooling directions on the performance of an air-cooling system. Our results reveal that the air-cooling direction has a more pronounced influence compared with the air-cooling temperature. By employing an optimal air-cooling direction and ambient air-cooling temperature, it is possible to achieve a temperature reduction of approximately 5 K in the battery, which otherwise requires a 10 K decrease in the air-cooling temperature to achieve a similar effect. Therefore, we propose an empirical formula for air-cooling efficiency under various conditions, aiming to provide valuable insights into the factors affecting air-cooling systems for industrial applications toward enhancing the fire safety of battery energy storage systems.