Permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM)

A PMSM is the high-performance motor at the heart of most modern electric vehicles. Like a BLDC it has permanent magnets on the rotor and coils on the stator, but it is driven with a smooth, sinusoidal three-phase current rather than the blocky on/off switching of a basic BLDC, giving it silky, ripple-free torque and very high efficiency. It is, strictly, a synchronous machine: the rotor magnets lock to the rotating stator field and turn in perfect step with it.

PMSMs hit the sweet spot of high power density (lots of power from a small, light package), high efficiency (often above 95%), and precise controllability, which is why Tesla, Toyota, and most EV makers use them, paired with sophisticated field-oriented control. Their one strategic weakness is the magnets themselves: the strongest use rare-earth elements like neodymium and dysprosium, whose supply and cost are a real engineering and geopolitical concern, pushing some designers back toward magnet-free induction or reluctance machines.