[Objective] To address the problem of high costs in manufacturing new energy vehicle drive motors caused by the scarcity and high price of rare earth materials, this study aims to reduce manufacturing costs by using low-cost ferrite materials to replace some of the neodymium iron boron permanent magnets. [Methods] Taking the U-shaped interior permanent magnet drive motor of an electric bus as the research object, three types of hybrid permanent magnet rotor structures combining neodymium iron boron and ferrite were designed. The finite element method was used to analyze the influence of different permanent magnet arrangements on the motor’s output torque, reluctance torque performance, and air-gap flux density distortion, and an asymmetric magnetic pole arrangement structure with obvious advantages in reluctance torque and output torque was selected. On the premise of unchanged permanent magnet usage, multi-parameter optimization was performed on the permanent magnet angle, distance, and magnetic bridge spacing. Finally, used an existing 110 kW neodymium iron boron prototype, the motor’s back electromotive force and torque-current characteristics were tested, and the measured data were compared with the simulation data. [Results] Compared with other arrangements, the single-pole asymmetric and two-pole symmetric magnetic pole arrangement structure achieves higher reluctance torque and output torque. After multi-parameter optimization, the motor’s output torque improved by 4.4% and the reluctance torque increased by 2.5%. The experimentally measured back-electromotive force and torque-current characteristics of the prototype shows a high degree of agreement with the finite element simulation values. [Conclusion] This solution partially replaces neodymium iron boron permanent magnets, which effectively reduces the manufacturing cost of the motor. At the same time, through multi-parameter optimization of various magnetic pole arrangement structures, such as single-pole asymmetric and two-pole symmetric structures, it achieves improved torque performance without increasing the amount of permanent magnet material used. Furthermore, experimental tests on an existing prototype verify the correctness and accuracy of the finite element simulation calculation method used in this paper.