Cell-based, multilevel converters provide an attractive solution in the design and application of medium voltage drives. In this paper we will explore the several benefits such as: cell redundancy, scalability, low fault energy, easy cell exchange and virtually sinusoidal load and motor-friendly output current. We will also learn how medium voltage drives using Modular Multilevel Converter (M2C) technology provides the same superior performance of cell-based, multilevel converters while adding the flexibility and configurability of a drive with a common DC link and distributed energy storage.