This paper presents the development of an electric vehicle (EV) interior permanent-magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) drive and its operation control. The power circuit of the established EV IPMSM drive consists of a two-leg interleaved bidirectional front-end DC/DC buck-boost converter and a three-phase inverter. The front-end converter can establish adjustable and boostable DC-link voltage for the motor drive to enhance its high-speed driving performance. It can also allow the battery bank be charged from the motor during regenerative braking. Good current sharing control between converter
modules and DC-link boosted voltage regulation response are preserved via the developed robust control scheme. Moreover, fast disturbance rejection response against the module fault and recovery is achieved. The comparative driving performance enhancements via DC-link voltage boosting and commutation instant tuning are conducted. Then through proper setting and control, the established electric vehicle IPMSM drive possesses good driving performances, including starting, acceleration/deceleration, regenerative braking and reversible operation characteristics.