Abstract: In order to solve the problem of complex rotor structure, deficient mechanical strength, and difficulty in high-speed applications of synchronous reluctance motor, a new type of synchronous switched reluctance motor (SSRM) was proposed. Taking the both advantages of switched reluctance motor and a synchronous reluctance motor, the new motor rotor was designed with several excellences including simple manufacturing process for punching sheet, strong reliability, suitable for high-speed fields, high salient pole rate and strong torque output capability. Based on the electromagnetic design of the new SSRM, the parameters of the motor were optimized by the orthogonal method, taking the average torque, torque ripple and motor efficiency as the optimized performance indicators. The finite element simulation and experiment results show that the optimized SSRM possesses the characteristics of low torque ripple and high efficiency.