Cars - Engine or Electric

As it's comming up to Christmas again I thought it would be helpful to write a little article to explain the pro's and con's of model car types.

Two basic types exist, electric and engine powered.

How long.

Both types give you similar running time on a tank or a charge of the battery. With engine powered cars it only takes seconds to fill the tank and your off again, but with electric cars you are looking at 12-14 hours to charge the battery. This situation can be helped by buying a second or third battery and a quick charger. The quick charger will allow you to charge the batteries in around an hour, and by having more than one battery you can charge one while you run the other.

Speed.

Up till recently another advantage engine cars had was speed, but with the introduction of brushless electric cars you can get electric cars that go faster than engine powered ones.

 

Starting.

You have to be able to start an engine and it is a knack, it's a bit like starting an old English motorbike, it's not a case of turning the key. They are very simple engines there is no ECU to take care of you, there isn't even a choke, starting them reliably is something you have to learn. With electric car you just switch them on !

Maintenance.

Engine powered cars require a fair bit more than their electric cousins. Think of them, not like your family car where you get 9000 miles between services but think of them like a rally car, they get driven hard, jumped, rolled, etc. and as a consequence they get a good looking over after every time they have been out. You need to be handy with the spanners for engine powered cars. Many people think we can repair the cars for you and while we can doing this, it will add a cost and time to the hobby. It is easy to get sick of travelling backwards and forwards with every hicup and paying for repairs, especially when parts are readily available, no particullarly special tools are needed, repairs not difficult, and we can always offer advice if you get stuck. A willingness to try and the knowledge you will gain from doing so will make owning an engine powered car  more rewarding. If however you want an easy life then electric powered cars require a lot less maintance, they still require some,but less than an engine powered car.

Noise.

Electric cars make next to no noise, engine powered ones can make a fair bit, similar to a 50cc two stroke motorbike. This means you have more choice when picking places to run an electric car, as you are less likely to get noticed by the neighbours.

Cost.

Generally speaking electric cars are cheaper then engine, however if you compare a brushless electric car to a similar perfomance engine one then the prices are at the minute slightly more for electric.

Conclusion.
It looks from the above that engine cars can be a bit of work and why would you pick one when you can get the same perfomance out of electric for a little more money. Certianly if you are a beginner and never owned a model car before then you would be wise to pick and electric car, but for perfomance for your pound engine cars still take some beating, provided you can look after them.

Up to the last year or two the situation was very different brushless electric cars didn't exist at least not at sensible money, so if you wanted true performance you had to go for an engine, but brushless electric cars can now offer an alternative and as they become more common prices are falling all the time.