An electric motor for viscous pumping, wherein the electric motor is a brushless DC motor configured to be driven by a low DC voltage of around 40-60 VDC, and includes: a rotor with permanent magnets; a stator with a stack of laminations and windings wound therearound; and a controller to provide electronic commutation of electric current flowing through the windings; wherein the windings and the stack of laminations are configured to handle at least 1 kW of continuous electric power from the controller, and the controller includes a feedback circuit including a rotation sensor coupled to the rotor and having an angular resolution of at least 1/500th of a revolution to allow the controller to control the torque generated by the electric motor to a corresponding extent.