Abstract: An electric motor comprises a stator assembly having at least two armature coils, and a rotor assembly arranged radially inward of the stator assembly. The rotor assembly has a rotor core, a magnetic ring, and a plurality of permanent magnets. The rotor core is substantially cylindrical in shape and constructed of a diamagnetic material. The magnetic ring is positioned about the rotor core, and the permanent magnets are positioned in the magnetic ring in such a way that magnetic fields created by the armature coils provide an attractive force which selectively attracts the permanent magnets toward the armature coils so as to impart rotational mechanical energy to the rotor assembly.