the invention provides an electric vehicle controller in which the generated motor torque is limited when the voltage of the vehicle battery decreases during running , in order to suppress over - discharge of the battery . a high torque can be obtained for a short period , however , even in the torque limiting period , and over - discharge is prevented by stopping electric power converting means in a final stage of discharge voltage of the battery . according to the invention , during operation of the vehicle , the battery terminal voltage is monitored and compared with a first comparison value v 1 . if the battery voltage falls below v 1 , a first counter commences measurement of the time period during which this condition continues . if the time period measured by the first counter reaches a preset value t 1 , torque limitation is initiated . in the torque limitation state , a torque command signal , generated by the control to operate the vehicle motor , is compared with the signal generated by the vehicle accelerator , and the signal having the lower value is thereafter used to control operation of the vehicle motor . in order to provide the capability to generate higher levels of torque for brief periods during torque limitation , the torque limitation process is terminated if the accelerator pedal is released completely .