I wonder if it would be possible to charge the cars from electric fields generated at, say, traffic lights. That way electric cars could practically run forever without ever having to plug it in. Of course, you could

Of course while the science is there the question remains of who will pay the bill =)

Sure, it's possible... if you don't have a problem with wasting 99% of the energy used to power such a device, and don't have a problem with people dying due to the humongous magnetic field a current like that would generate.

Oil lobby wants electric cars not.

Dude do you know how much your "permanent magnetic core" would cost? The answer is while I'm not sure, its A LOT.

I used to work in a motor shop for the gov't I saw a few of the new motor technologies, I also saw the price tag that came with them.

Those of you who are who are saying they are low maitanance and you only need to replace the brushes/bearings are very wrong. Actually, those bearings are a pain in the ass to replace you shouldn't make it seem so simple. I'd get more into it but I gotta run to work.

You realize that the difference in energy consumed from an internal combustion engine to that of getting electricity from your home, i.e. local power plant, is a huge difference. Granted the EV's still have an indirect emission factor, but, that amount is dramatically reduced from even the best hybrids currently on the market.

The tesla roadster is just one example, but as you can see it is 2x more efficient than the best current vehicle.

That difference combined with the current ability to add "caps" to all coal electric plants to capture nearly all emmisions would amount to a massive cutback in global pollution.

Also from http://www.teslamotors.com/learn_more/faqs.php

"Don't electric vehicles actually just move pollution to another location? And therefore don't EVs still use oil?

No. Most electric power generation in the United States does not use oil. Coal, hydro, nuclear, solar, and natural gas are typical sources for generating electricity. Power generation plants, even coal burning ones, are inherently more efficient and less polluting than vehicles due to economies of scale and the ability to more efficiently remove pollutants from a smaller number of much larger fixed locations.

Also, an electric car is far more efficient than a gasoline car, so the amount of pollution generated by producing the electricity to drive an EV a given distance is much less than the pollution from the gasoline to drive an internal combustion car the same distance. Whereas a combustion engine car – even those powered by hydrogen, ethanol, and biodiesel – can make use of around 20 percent of the energy that it consumes, a battery electric car like the Tesla Roadster is able to put more than 80 percent of the energy it consumes to use in moving the car down the road."

Here is Quebec, 99% of our energy is from hydro(97%) and wind(2%), so to power an electric vehicle in most municipalities would require virtually no emission.

Yep the permanent magnet armature motors are not cheap but they are the best thats why they use them. The magnet is a specal rare earth alloy (probably around $100 worth of rare metals in it) - but the reduction in rotating mass advantage is considerable and the overall weight and power output are ideal for performance electric transport applications where weight to power is critical.

And yes it's a few hours job to replace the bearings on a small motor but the bearings will last practically forever  (1 million Km plus ) and only  2 of them.

The next step is even better - superconducting motors ! - ( US navy is experimenting with super conducting drive motors for large ships ).

Just wait for Very high temp superconductors  and electric cars will be beating nitro dragsters not just ferraris !.

An ICE motor has around 100 moving parts and dozens of bearings operating at near boiling point, and under very high vibration  !. Let me list 4 cylinders with pushrods, 2 rings each + 4* valves each + 4 return springs,guides and valve faces , roller cams and cam shaft, cam chain - though new cars use a belt) then add assemblies like injector valves,fuel pump, oil pump ,water pump, thermostat, harmonic balancer , alternator ,power steering servo. etc The modern car's internal combustion engine is a marvel of engineering but lucky to get even 45% efficiency and only able to produce peak power in a narrow rev range and needs servicing every 10000k.

Hey I never said there wouldn't be less emission. I just said this is still far from "zero emission".

don't know where you studied physics, but transformers work off this principle and they are some of the most efficient electrical devices that exist. Hell, my electric toothbrush is powered in the same fashion. And the electromagnet field generated wouldn't kill anyone, or really hurt at all, I wouldn't like to know what it would do to the electronics in your car though...