A variable voltage converter transfers charge between a battery and a DC link. A first inductor couples a positive battery node and a first node. A first transistor selectably couples the first node to a negative battery node. A first capacitor has a negative terminal coupled to the negative battery node. A second inductor couples a positive terminal of the first capacitor to a second node. A second capacitor has a positive terminal coupled to the first node. A second transistor selectably couples the second node to a negative terminal of the second capacitor. When the transistors are non-conducting, the second inductor charges the DC link and the first inductor charges the first and second capacitors. When the transistors are conducting, the inductors are energized in parallel by the battery and the first and second capacitors. High voltage gain is obtained at relatively low values for the PWM duty cycle.