A drive circuit for an electric motor connected in series with an AC power source between a first node and a second node. The drive circuit includes a controllable bidirectional AC switch, an AC-DC conversion circuit connected in parallel with the controllable bidirectional AC switch between the first node and the second node, a position sensor configured to detect a position of a rotor of the motor, and a switch control circuit configured to control the controllable bidirectional AC switch to be conductive or non-conductive in a predetermined way, based on the position of the rotor and a polarity of the AC power source.