APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETECTING ABNORMAL CELL OF BATTERY MODULE

An apparatus for detecting abnormal cell of battery module includes a charging current detector configured to detect whether a charging current reaches a first criterion during charging of a battery module comprising a plurality of battery cells, a state of charge (SOC) detector configured to detect whether an SOC reaches a second criterion, a cell voltage measurement part configured to measure a voltage of each cell, and a cell abnormality determination part configured to store the measured voltage of each cell as a maximum voltage, then compare a current voltage with the stored maximum voltage when the current voltage that is less than or equal to the maximum voltage is measured, and when a difference between the stored maximum voltage and the current voltage is greater than or equal to an allowable value, determine that a corresponding cell is an abnormal cell.