This article presents an analytical derivation of transient performance deterioration for high-speed surface-mounted permanent magnet synchronous machine (SPMSM) drives under parameter mismatches, with an advanced deadbeat predictive current control (DBPCC), which exhibits fast dynamics and strong robustness with disturbances rejection. All the influential factors, including permanent magnet flux linkage and inductance mismatches, inverter nonlinearity, and speeds are taken into account in the analysis. It is shown that the transient performance with the advanced DBPCC is only dependent on inductance accuracy. Large transient overshoot and cross-coupling in the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dq</i> -axis currents at high speeds arise due to inductance mismatch. Based on the understanding gained through the analysis, a novel inductance identification method is also proposed in this article, which significantly improves the transient performance of high-speed SPMSM drives. The proposed online inductance identification method does not require signal injection, is nonintrusive, and can be easily implemented. By integrating the proposed method with the advanced DBPCC, the close-to-ideal deadbeat control can be achieved for high-speed SPMSM drives even in the presence of parameter mismatch and inverter nonlinearity. Both the analysis and proposed method have been validated experimentally on a prototype high-speed (30 000 r/min) SPMSM drive under various conditions.