This concept and others like it have been around for awhile. Now that power electronics are getting more and more power dense it is becoming more feasible and practical.

Just remember there's no free lunch. Electromagnets have their own set of special issues realted to operating temperature, environment, and insulation life. And the energy/power required to operate the electromagnetic is not free either. It will likely come from the crankshaft and a higher performance alternator.

Developing electromechanical prototype machinery for a living, I for one would need to see a comprehensive performance and reliability trade study and energy balance and of course cost perspective before before I got too excited ...............

But it's still neat. A much more compact version BTW is in the form of a self contained solenoidal actuator ................

Regards, Kitz