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Based on the unipolar-duty-cycle (UDC) modulation technique, this article presents a hybrid control strategy for a series–series compensated inductive power transfer (IPT) system. By adjusting the duty cycle and the operating frequency, zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and constant-current output (CCO) can be achieved with varying coupling coefficients and load. Furthermore, as the proposed strategy enables the IPT system to lower the frequency of operation, it provides higher efficiency in the overall output power range than the conventional variable-frequency control methods. The basic principle of the UDC control strategy and its characteristics are introduced, and the system performance under UDC is analyzed and compared with the performance achieved by conventional control methods. Based on this, the UDC closed-loop control scheme, which combines PI control and hysteresis control, is proposed for the dynamic tracking of the ZVS and the CCO under a wide range of coupling coefficients and load. To validate the practicability of the proposed control strategy, a 500-W experimental prototype is configured. The simulation and experimental results indicate that the proposed scheme can stably and accurately track the ZVS and the CCO under varying parameter conditions, and it significantly improves the system efficiency. Especially, the system efficiency is improved by approximately 1.75% under light-load conditions as compared with that of the conventional control method. In addition, since the proposed method employs only one control loop, the cost and complexity of the IPT system are reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]