A power conversion system, comprising: a multilevel inverter, including at least one inverter leg comprising a plurality of power stages, the individual power stages comprising: a DC bus circuit with a first DC circuit branch (121, 131) and a second DC circuit branch (122, 132), a rectifier circuit providing a DC voltage to the DC bus circuit, an output; and a switching circuit operable according to switching control signals to provide an output voltage at the output at one of a plurality of distinct output voltage levels, and a precharge and dynamic braking circuit with a resistor connected between the rectifier circuit and the switching circuit, the precharge and dynamic braking circuit operative in a first operating mode (precharge) to conduct current from the rectifier circuit through the resistor to charge a capacitor of the DC bus circuit, in a second operating mode (normal) to bypass the resistor and allow current to flow from the rectifier circuit to the switching circuit, and in a third operating mode (dynamic braking) to connect the resistor in parallel with the capacitor of the DC bus circuit, the outputs of the plurality of power stages of each of the at least one inverter legs being coupled in series with one another, wherein the output of a last power stage of each of the at least one inverter legs provides an output to drive a load; and a controller operative to provide the switching control signals to set the individual output voltage levels of the power stages of the multilevel inverter, wherein the individual precharge and dynamic braking circuits operate in the first operating mode if a DC bus voltage of the corresponding DC bus circuit is less than a first threshold value (TH PC), in the third operating mode if the DC bus voltage is greater than a second threshold value (TH DB), and in the second operating mode (normal) if the DC bus voltage is between the first and second threshold values (TH PC, TH DB), the second threshold value (TH DB) being greater than the first threshold value (THpc). a multilevel inverter, including at least one inverter leg comprising a plurality of power stages, the individual power stages comprising: a DC bus circuit with a first DC circuit branch (121, 131) and a second DC circuit branch (122, 132), a rectifier circuit providing a DC voltage to the DC bus circuit, an output; and a switching circuit operable according to switching control signals to provide an output voltage at the output at one of a plurality of distinct output voltage levels, and a precharge and dynamic braking circuit with a resistor connected between the rectifier circuit and the switching circuit, the precharge and dynamic braking circuit operative in a first operating mode (precharge) to conduct current from the rectifier circuit through the resistor to charge a capacitor of the DC bus circuit, in a second operating mode (normal) to bypass the resistor and allow current to flow from the rectifier circuit to the switching circuit, and in a third operating mode (dynamic braking) to connect the resistor in parallel with the capacitor of the DC bus circuit, the outputs of the plurality of power stages of each of the at least one inverter legs being coupled in series with one another, wherein the output of a last power stage of each of the at least one inverter legs provides an output to drive a load; and a DC bus circuit with a first DC circuit branch (121, 131) and a second DC circuit branch (122, 132), a rectifier circuit providing a DC voltage to the DC bus circuit, an output; and a switching circuit operable according to switching control signals to provide an output voltage at the output at one of a plurality of distinct output voltage levels, and a precharge and dynamic braking circuit with a resistor connected between the rectifier circuit and the switching circuit, the precharge and dynamic braking circuit operative in a first operating mode (precharge) to conduct current from the rectifier circuit through the resistor to charge a capacitor of the DC bus circuit, in a second operating mode (normal) to bypass the resistor and allow current to flow from the rectifier circuit to the switching circuit, and in a third operating mode (dynamic braking) to connect the resistor in parallel with the capacitor of the DC bus circuit, the outputs of the plurality of power stages of each of the at least one inverter legs being coupled in series with one another, wherein the output of a last power stage of each of the at least one inverter legs provides an output to drive a load; and a controller operative to provide the switching control signals to set the individual output voltage levels of the power stages of the multilevel inverter, wherein the individual precharge and dynamic braking circuits operate in the first operating mode if a DC bus voltage of the corresponding DC bus circuit is less than a first threshold value (TH PC), in the third operating mode if the DC bus voltage is greater than a second threshold value (TH DB), and in the second operating mode (normal) if the DC bus voltage is between the first and second threshold values (TH PC, TH DB), the second threshold value (TH DB) being greater than the first threshold value (THpc).