The major drawbacks of classical direct torque control (DTC) are large torque ripples and variable switching frequency. Torque ripples in DTC drives can be attenuated if a three-level inverter is employed instead of a two-level inverter. Nevertheless, torque ripples can still be large if low switching frequencies are used. To alleviate these problems, a constant-switching-frequency-based three-level DTC (3L-DTC) algorithm is presented in this paper. Operating at low, constant switching frequency, the proposed algorithm is effective in reducing torque ripples under all operating conditions. Detailed analysis and design guidelines for the proposed 3L-DTC algorithm are presented. In addition, typical issues associated with the three-level inverter, such as neutral-point voltage fluctuations and smooth voltage vector switching, are addressed. Experimental results are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.