Classical molecular dynamics with a Hartree-Fock potential (direct dynamics) was used for qualitative studies of energy and charge dynamics in the gas-phase CO + CO+ --> CO+ + CO electron exchange reaction. Three potential energy minima and two transition states with energies below the dissociation limit were found along the reaction path. The central global minimum corresponds to the (CO)(2)(+) dimer previously observed in photoionization experiments and two local minima correspond to weakly bound CO CO+ capture complexes. At 200 K the energy transfer rate constants for the capture complexes and the (CO)(2)(+) dimer were found to be in the 0.6-15 ps(-1) range, large enough to ensure complete energy randomization on the isomerization time scale. Yet the energy transfer is strongly affected by the choice of the initial normal mode energies. Adiabatic modes and adiabatic mode manifolds were observed for several sets of MD trajectories. The coupling between nuclear motion and variation of atomic charges was studied by using Fourier transformation techniques. Fundamental new observations from this study include: (1) substantial transfer of partial charge occurs over a range of geometries, so electron transfer (ET) is not abrupt; (2) ET is mediated predominately by low-frequency bending modes of the (CO)(2)(+) complex; and (3) CO stretching modes do not transfer energy to torsional or bending modes on the simulation time scale, so a basic tenet of transition state theory-energy randomization-should be tested experimentally.