Electrochemical cells for a lithium-ion battery are formed on a conductive wire substrate drawn through a multi-chamber deposition reactor, then assembled together in series and parallel connection to create a fail-safe battery. The wire substrate acts as current-limiting fuse that melts when there is a short affecting that cell, while remaining cells of the battery continue to operate. Each cell has solid-state thin film layers concentrically nucleated and grown over a length of the wire substrate as it is drawn through the successive deposition sections, including at least a first electrochemical active material layer, ion-exchange material layer, a second electrochemical active material layer, which is followed by deposition of a conductive layer forming an outer current collector and hermetic seal for the cell. The active material layers form electrodes (cathode and anode), wherein the anode may be formed as a multi-layer composite with stress-absorbing compliant layers.