cbhklh:
Yes, I have considered inert gas of some sort, but this means another bottle I have to maintain and or worry about. Electricity is always there.
That's quite understandable. So in that case GoForSmoke's suggestion about using a 3 phase induction motor is probably the best avenue. If you want to do something unusual with electricity, real life eccentric genius Nikola Tesla probably figured it out long ago. 