Do electric motors have better power-to-weight than piston engines?

[Gara]

i hear electrical moters have more power per weight than piston engines.

such as, a 100 KG electric motor would make more power than a 100 KG piston engine.

what about size, would it be smaller/no different/bigger in size?

and asuming we had room temp superconductors, the motor would make no heat, right? what kind of power increse would we gain from that?

 

[cider_drinker]

What type of motor are you referring to, large AC, a DC motor, small motors or Stepper type motors. They all have different characteristics.

What is your application? AC and DC motors can deliver a lot of torque for their size, but remember for mobile applications, they require a lot of electrical current, and so usually large batteries are required (for DC designs, or with inverters for AC designs.) This adds a lot of weight to the design and the batteries need replenished some how (you need to charge them every so often.)

For static applications, motors can provide more control than IC engines, and can be powered from the mains supply, and so do not need a regular fuel top-up.

Active braking can also be achieved with electrical motors for applications where the drive needs to stop quickly.