Impulse motor for electric propulsion

When a conventional dc or ac motor is compared with a conventional gasoline engine, the former is a continuous machine and the latter is an impulse machine. In acutal performance for vehicle propulsion, in spite of the well known, poor efficiency of gasoline-piston engines [1], the gasoline engine outperforms generally, the electric motor, which is usually considered to be highly efficient [2] over the gasoline engine. Therefore, there is a logical possibility that if an electric motor is operated in a pulse mode with a proper dynamic energy storage and shut-off as the gasoline engines have today, the pulse mode operated electric motor may outperform present continuous dc or ac motors. The objectives of this paper are to present conditions under which the impulse motor outperforms the continuous electric motor and to point out the limitations and advantages of the impulse machines.