THey are in fact talking about absolute efficiency.
Conventional electromotors are designed with high efficiency... at a certain range of RPM and torque. For lower RPM's permanent magnet electromotors suffer dramatic decreases in efficiency and torque, unless you use a gearbox, which also produce heat due to frictional loss.
These electrostatic motors can achieve quasi reversible performance (i.e. asymptotically close to 100% efficient, not a violation of thermodynamics, since neither electrical nor mechanical energy are thermal forms of energy).
Turbosets also reach nearly 100% conversion efficiency.
Electrostatic motors started their niche with miniature motors, since they were more compact and it becomes progressively harder to miniaturize winding coils. Where a simple electrode surface would be more space efficient.
Pay attention to Macroscale in the title, its these miniature-niche low RPM motors slowly capturing larger torque and higher RPM lebensraum from the gearboxed permanent magnet electromotors.
Conventional electromotors are designed with high efficiency... at a certain range of RPM and torque. For lower RPM's permanent magnet electromotors suffer dramatic decreases in efficiency and torque, unless you use a gearbox, which also produce heat due to frictional loss.
These electrostatic motors can achieve quasi reversible performance (i.e. asymptotically close to 100% efficient, not a violation of thermodynamics, since neither electrical nor mechanical energy are thermal forms of energy).
Turbosets also reach nearly 100% conversion efficiency.
Electrostatic motors started their niche with miniature motors, since they were more compact and it becomes progressively harder to miniaturize winding coils. Where a simple electrode surface would be more space efficient.
Pay attention to Macroscale in the title, its these miniature-niche low RPM motors slowly capturing larger torque and higher RPM lebensraum from the gearboxed permanent magnet electromotors.