This paper discusses the development of new winding configuration for six-phase permanent-magnet (PM) machines with 18 slots and 8 poles, which eliminates and/or reduces undesirable space harmonics in the stator magnetomotive force. The proposed configuration improves power/torque density and efficiency with a reduction in eddy-current losses in the rotor permanent magnets and copper losses in end windings. To improve drive train availability for applications in electric vehicles (EVs), this paper proposes the design of a six-phase PM machine as two independent three-phase windings. A number of possible phase shifts between two sets of three-phase windings due to their slot-pole combination and winding configuration are investigated, and the optimum phase shift is selected by analyzing the harmonic distributions and their effect on machine performance, including the rotor eddy-current losses. The machine design is optimized for a given set of specifications for EVs, under electrical, thermal and volumetric constraints, and demonstrated by the experimental measurements on a prototype machine.