A modulated model-free predictive control with minimum switching losses (MSL-MMFPC) is proposed to improve the steady-state performance and reduce the switching losses for a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drive system. Firstly, two adjacent current vectors are determined based on the predefined first-level cost function, and then, make the current vector at the next control period equal to the reference current vector by modulating the selected current vectors properly. Additionally, in order to keep optimal control performance also in the over-modulation region, a new rotating coordinate frame is used to adjust the optimal voltage vector. Then, the second-level cost function is designed to select the optimal voltage vector sequence, so that the switching of a VSI leg does not happen during the phase-current maximum, which can reduce the switching losses of the inverter. The simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed control method. INDEX TERMS PMSM drive system, modulated model-free predictive control, optimal voltage vector, over-modulation operation, minimum switching losses.