A permanent magnet DC motor with 2P magnetic poles, where P is an integer greater than 1, comprising a stator (100) with a plurality of magnetic components, and a rotor (104) configured to rotate relative to the stator. The rotor may comprise a commutator and a rotor core with a plurality of rotor teeth (106) defining a plurality of rotor grooves (108), wherein the rotor grooves accommodate a plurality rotor windings. In some embodiments, the commutator comprises a plurality m of commutator bars (Z), wherein m is an even number greater than 2. The rotor windings comprises a plurality of coil elements (W), wherein a coil element comprises two ends connecting a pair of commutator bars, such that a first pair of adjacent commutator bars is connected through P−1 serially connected coil elements, and a second pair of adjacent commutator bars is connected through P+1 serially connected coil elements.