Interior permanent magnet synchronous motor(IPMSM) is widely used in many applications such as an electric vehicle, compressor drives of air conditioner and machine tool spindle drives. In order to maximize the efficiency in such applications, this paper is proposed the optimal control method of the armature current. The controllable electrical loss which consists of the copper loss and the iron loss can be minimized by the optimal control of the armature current. The minimization of loss is possible to realize efficiency optimization control for the proposed IPMSM The optimal current can be decided according to the operating speed and the load conditions. The proposed control algorithm is applied to IPMSM drive system, the operating characteristics controlled by efficiency optimization control are examined in detail by simulation.