In order to reduce the use of wheel angular velocity sensors and improve the estimation accuracy and robustness of the tire–road friction coefficient (TRFC) in non-Gaussian noise environments, this paper proposes a sensorless control-based distributed drive electric vehicle TRFC estimation algorithm using a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). The algorithm replaces the wheel angular velocity signal with the rotor speed signal obtained from the sensorless control of the PMSM. Firstly, a seven-degree-of-freedom vehicle dynamics model and a mathematical model of the PMSM are established, and the maximum correntropy singular value decomposition generalized high-degree cubature Kalman filter algorithm (MCSVDGHCKF) is derived. Secondly, a sensorless control system of a PMSM based on the MCSVDGHCKF algorithm is established to estimate the rotor speed and position of the PMSM, and its effectiveness is verified. Finally, the feasibility of the algorithm for TRFC estimation in non-Gaussian noise is demonstrated through simulation experiments, the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of TRFC estimates for the right front wheel and the left rear wheel were reduced by at least 41.36% and 40.63%, respectively. The results show that the MCSVDGHCKF has a higher accuracy and stronger robustness compared to the maximum correntropy high-degree cubature Kalman filter (MCHCKF), singular value decomposition generalized high-degree cubature Kalman filter (SVDGHCKF), and high-degree cubature Kalman filter (HCKF).