This paper presents a nonlinear observer design method for SOC(state-of-charge) estimation of Lithium polymer battery cell. The dynamic equation of the battery cell is modeled as a simple RC electrical circuit with a nonlinear voltage source and the parameters are obtained via nonlinear optimization. Using the sum of squares decomposition, the observer gain is designed such that the error dynamics is asymptotically stable and the decay rate is below the prescribed value. In order to illustrate the performance of the observer, a computer simulation is performed using the experimental data with the UDDS(urban dynamometer driving schedule) current profile.