Environmental protection and energy conservations are the main concern of 21st century which has now accelerated the pace to plan and develop electric vehicle technology. The electric vehicles (EVs) offer a zero emission, new automobile industry establishment, and economic development, efficient and smart transportation system. Also EVs equipped with artificial intelligence system will also improve the present traffic safety and road utilization. The EV system consist of energy storage devices such as various types of batteries, fuel cells, ultra-capacitors along with electric propulsion, body of the vehicle and energy management system with the diversified technology of electrical, electronics, mechanical, automotive and chemical engineering. The objective of electric vehicle is to produce commercial viable range, efficient performance, and comfort with safety and reliable operations at cheaper price than its counterpart the internal combustion EV. Currently the permanent magnet brushless direct current motors are the present choice of automobile industries and researchers because of its high power density, compact size, reliability, and noise free and minimum maintenance requirements. In this paper an overview of electric vehicle technology and key strategy is presented. The present state of art permanent magnet brushless DC motor drive for the electric vehicle application is also presented in this paper. In addition the energy storage devices, smart energy management system unit for EV and commercial aspects and benefits of EV are highlighted.