Purpose <p>To improve vibration isolation for the hub motor driven vehicle (HMDV) under its adverse effects, a semi-active inertial suspension system (SISS) is proposed based on an adaptive control strategy.</p> Methods <p>Firstly, the SISS is developed for a quarter-car HMDV model, considering various adverse vibration effects. These include excitations from road conditions, the unbalanced radial force of the switched reluctance motor (SRM), and the increase in unsprung mass. Secondly, an adaptive Fuzzy Fractional-Order Proportional-Integral-Derivative (FFOPID) controller is proposed to regulate the damping coefficient of the SISS. To evaluate its effectiveness, a conventional PID controller is also considered for comparison. Then, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is applied to optimize both the fundamental parameters of the SISS and the proposed controller. Finally, a mechatronic inertial suspension system (MISS) is developed based on the SISS reference model to enhance practical applicability. The hedge-algebras control is applied as an alternative to FLC, providing a novel control approach for the MISS. The effectiveness of these control strategies is verified through simulation analysis.</p> Results and Conclusions <p>The results show that both SISS with adaptive control and MISS based on HA control significantly improve key performance indicators, including the root mean square (RMS) of body acceleration (<i>BA</i>), suspension working space (<i>SWS</i>), and dynamic tire load (<i>DTL</i>) compared to the traditional suspension system (TSS), across all evaluated conditions. These findings underscore the potential of SISS in delivering superior performance through advanced control strategies and highlight the promising real-world applicability of MISS in vehicle suspension systems.</p>