An electric vehicle (EV) usually has two main power converters, namely one for the motor drive system and another for the battery-charging system. Considering the similarities between both converters, a new unified power converter for motor drive and battery charging of EVs is propounded in this paper. By using a single unified power converter, the cost, volume, and weight of the power electronics are reduced, thus also making possible a reduction in the final price of the EV. Moreover, the proposed unified power converter has the capability of bidirectional power flow. During operation in traction mode, the unified power converter controls motor driving and regenerative braking. Additionally, during operation in battery-charging mode, with the EV plugged into the electrical power grid, the unified power converter controls the power flow for slow or fast battery charging (grid-to-vehicle (G2V) mode), or for discharging of the batteries (vehicle-to-grid (V2G) mode). Specifically, this paper presents computer simulations and experimental validations for operation in both motor-driving and slow battery-charging mode (in G2V and V2G modes). It is demonstrated that the field-oriented control used in the traction system presents good performance for different values of mechanical load and that the battery-charging system operates with high levels of power quality, both in G2V and in V2G mode.