Motor drive system is the power core component of electric vehicle. In order to design and analysis the water-cooled permanent magnet synchronous motor for a electric sport utility vehicle (SUV), the motor model based on vehicle parameters was used to investigate. The motor design index was calculated and selected, and the heat source and heat transfer characteristics of the motor were analyzed. The circumferential spiral water-cooled motor structure was designed. Based on the finite element software Ansoft, motor magnetic field were simulated. The results show that the design of the motor can meet the requirements of vehicle.