When you need obnoxious amounts of instant torque, nothing comes close to electric motors. Those giant CN railroad locomotives you see hauling a billion kilograms up the Rockies may have diesel generators, but the locomotion is provided by AC electric motors.
For anyone not paying attention, electric motors are very efficient. Unlike burning things like gasoline or coal or money to create physical motion, using electricity induced magnetism wastes very little energy, while also producing peak torque right from go, instead of having to spool up pistons to an optimum speed.
Witness here a video of the Energica Ego, an Italian electric superbike that just this week passed its US DOT exams and will be delivered to customers this year. In it, the smugly named Ego destroys all comers in a quarter mile drag race, including a BMW S1000RR, A Ferrari, and Tesla Model S.
While piston-powered superbikes and cars lose precious seconds revving and slipping clutches, the Energica just launches on a wave of AC induced power from the drop of the flag. The Ego also just manages to stay ahead of the electric Tesla sedan, mostly because the car weighs more than a CN railway locomotive.
Please explain to me how you get AC voltage out of DC storage batteries. AC current has to be converted to DC to charge the batteries. I believe the motors in electric vehicles are DC.