A vehicle control apparatus includes state measurement means for measuring states of the vehicle; required power estimation means for calculating an estimated required power indicating a motor power required to operate the vehicle based on the states of the vehicle measured by the state measurement means; critical power estimation means for calculating a critical power when the motor power saturates based on the states of the vehicle measured by the state measurement means; modified reference input means for modifying a reference input so that the estimated required power falls within the estimated critical power when it is determined that the estimated required power estimated by the required power estimation means exceeds the estimated critical power estimated by the critical power estimation means; and control means for controlling a motor of the vehicle based on the reference input modified by the modified reference input means.