A Low cost and variable speed brushless motor drive system with single switch per phase is presented. The motor drive is realized with a novel two-phase flux-reversal-free switched reluctance motor and a split AC two switch converter. The strategy of the controller and the converter for its realization are described. Comparisons between a split AC converter, asymmetric converter, split DC converter, single controllable switch converter, and N+1 converter are performed for its device rating, cost, switching losses and conduction losses, and converter efficiency. The split AC converter is analyzed and simulated to verify the characteristics of the converter circuitry and control feasibility and the simulation results are presented. The efficiency with various loads is numerically estimated and experimentally compared from viewpoint of subsystem and system in details. The focus of this paper is to compare the presented motor drive system to the asymmetric converter system throughout experiments and demonstrate single switch per phase converter having comparable efficiency as the asymmetric converter system.