ELECTRIC AUTOMOBILE

An electric vehicle includes a malfunction detector (37) configured to continuously monitor a torque command from an ECU (21) as well as one of the followings: signals indicating a rotational frequency of a motor unit (6); signals indicating a rotational frequency of a wheel (2, 3) driven by the motor unit (6); signals indicating a rotational direction of the motor unit (6); signals indicating a rotational direction of the wheel (2, 3) driven by the motor unit (6); and a motor current, and detect, according to a predefined rule, a malfunction of the motor unit (6), based on the monitoring information. The electric vehicle also includes a malfunction-responsive controller (38) configured to cause at least one of shut-off of a drive current to the motor unit (6) and braking with a mechanical brake (9, 10), if the malfunction detector (37) detects a malfunction.