The analysis and control of powertrain systems of electric vehicle, which is an important type of new energy vehicle, have been the focus of extensive research, but determining the motor modeling parameters remains a problem. A method of parameter determination for brushless DC motor modeling based on vehicle power performance was developed in this study. The power and torque of the driving motor of an electric vehicle were obtained by using the dynamic equation of the electric vehicle to satisfy the requirements of power performance. The ranges of the back electromotive force coefficient and the winding inductance were derived from the voltage and dynamic equations of brushless DC motor, which were deduced from the expected power and torque of the motor. The modeling parameters were then determined on the basis of the influence of power source voltage, back electromotive force coefficient, winding inductance, and winding resistance on vehicle power performance. A hardware-in-loop simulation of vehicle power performance was performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results indicate that the maximum vehicle velocity is 172 km/h, and the acceleration time of 100 km/h is 13 s, which reveal that the motor modeling parameters obtained with the method satisfy relevant requirements.