Electric motors have some of the same problems that steam engines do. You need very precise bearings because of the relationship between magnetic field and dist

Electric motors have some of the same problems that steam engines do. You need very precise bearings because of the relationship between magnetic field and distance. You need lots of copper wire, as you mentioned, and while magnets might be "found on the ground" I don't know that powerful enough ones to be useful were known of. It's easy to make a proof of concept electric motor. It's far more difficult to make a useful one. And then, of course, you need a source of electricity to use them in the first place, whereas the steam engine just needed heat and water.