In recent years, the automotive industry is booming, electrification as the ' new four modernizations (electrification, intelligence, networking, sharing) ' development foundation, making the rapid development of electric vehicles. As the ' heart ' of electric vehicles, the drive motor system is related to the operation safety of electric vehicles. This paper focuses on the research of fault diagnosis of drive motor system, and introduces the development process of fault diagnosis and the structural principle of drive motor system. Based on previous fault cases and expert experience, the fault modes of drive motor system are graded and classified, and a brief fault tree of drive motor system is drawn. The fault diagnosis and maintenance process of drive motor system are proposed. Finally, the research on fault diagnosis of drive motor system is summarized and prospected, so as to provide new directions and perspectives for the research and development of fault diagnosis of drive motor system.