A few years back when I was in college I gave making an electric coal a whirl when I ran out of coals and was waiting on an order to come in. It worked for about about 5-10 minutes before the coil I used overheated, melted and the connection was broken. I didn't use an air flow sensor to regulate temps, just the control from an old crock pot
I may need to try it again using one of my old variable temp soldering iron and a tip with the footprint of a coal or two. Either that or I'll forget... I don't really think anything will ever replace good old fashioned coals for me. But it would be cool.