The paper deals with the study of a high speed induction motor to be used for the propulsion of an electric vehicle. A 40 kW machine, operating at a rated speed of 40500 r/min is designed and analyzed in the paper. After exposing the reasons which determined the choice of the induction motor for such an application, a particular topology is analyzed here. The aspects that arise during the design procedure and operation of such a motor are discussed in detail in the paper. Various choices which are influencing the performances of the machine are analyzed, both by analytical and numerical methods. Given the challenges of such an application, the numerical analysis has a very important role, to validate the choices made in the design process and to proof the capability of the machine to respond to the applications' demands.