This article proposes a new technique called optimized discontinuous carrier pulse width modulation (ODCPWM), whose main objective is to solve the issue of significant output voltage harmonics of conventional synchronous carrier modulation at low carrier wave ratios. Based on the symmetry principle, the fundamental wave period is divided into regions; the carriers in adjacent regions are flipped, and the carrier width is changed symmetrically in each region to generate an unequal-width optimized discontinuous carrier pulse width modulation. In addition, using the weighted total harmonic distortion (WTHD) of the line voltage as an evaluation index, an optimized multi-mode PWM strategy is proposed to satisfy the system to operate stably in the whole speed range. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy. The results show that ODCPWM proposed in this article can eliminate harmonics and multiples of three harmonics in line voltage harmonics. The VWTHD is lower, which improves the quality of the output waveform and makes the system operation more stable and reliable. The proposed multi-mode PWM strategy is smooth and shock-free during switching.