Under the background of energy saving and environmental protection, electric vehicle technologies are being developed fast and become a research hot topic around the world. The types of electric vehicles and current industry situation are reviewed in this paper with a focus on their driving motor types, specially permanent magnet (PM) traction motors. The key technologies adopted in PM motors and the development trend of traction motors are discussed. Finally, the influence of electric vehicles on power grid during charging and discharging is summarized, and the development trend of electric vehicle industry is predicted.