This article presents a comprehensive analysis of a single current sensor (SCS)-based quasi-Z-source inverter (qZSI) drive with an interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM). Considering elevated inductor current ripple in conventional qZSI-IPMSM during removal of outer boundary dead zone problem in SCS topology, a new dead zone compensation technique is proposed based on overlapping of active states with ZSVMs. Both current sampling and qZSI operation with ZSVMs are investigated to test the feasibility of three-phase current reconstruction in measurement dead zones in order to improve the operating range of the IPMSM drive. The practical implementation of ZSVM-based current sampling also covers single dc-link branch SCS topology, which not only enables variable dc-link voltage control for efficiency enhancement but also guarantees inductor size, overall cost, and volume reduction. The proposed SCS-based qZSI-IPMSM drives are verified with experimental results, which show the potential for low-cost, reliable, and efficient motor drives for electric vehicles and industrial motor drives.