An electromechanical machine having a stator and a rotor, the stator including at least one stator module of N toroid shaped electromagnets, the electromagnets arranged along an arc a predetermined distance apart defining a stator arc length. Each of the electromagnets has at least one gap. The rotor includes a disc adapted to pass through the at least one gap. The disc includes a plurality of permanent magnets spaced side by side about a periphery thereof and arranged so as to have alternating north-south polarities. The permanent magnets are sized and spaced such that within the stator arc length the ratio of permanent magnets to electromagnets is N+1 to N, where N is the number of electrical excitation phases applied to the electromagnets.