Electric RC cars and buggies
Electric rc cars are a perfect introduction to rc driving because they're simpler than nitro models, and not too much can go wrong! Also, a nitro car needs more equipment to start it and has to be tuned to run properly, and maintained to a higher degree.
An RTR ('Ready To Run') electric car (we'll include 'buggies' under the general term 'rc car', for convenience) is the best choice for your first rc car, simply because they need very little or no final assembly; you just charge the batteries and go.
Really, the only thing you definitely need with an electric powered car is a field charger for the motor battery pack, unless of course you're driving the car close to home and you can pop back easily to charge the motor batteries. An extra battery pack is always a good idea, so you can charge and drive at the same time.
Browse electric rc cars, if you're looking to buy.
On-road and off-road electric RC cars
RTRs essentially come in two basic categories; on-road for track racing and off-road for uneven surface / all-terrain driving. Whether you want to drive on or off road really comes down to personal preference.
If you're looking for a general 'all-round' electric car then a simple 2-wheel drive 'buggy' type is an excellent choice, because these can be driven on and off road, whereas something like a model touring car will limit you to only driving on the smoothest of surfaces.
RC buggies are very popular and a lot of fun; a very popular buggy is shown below, the Evader from Duratrax:
This particular buggy is fairly typical of most electric rc buggies that make excellent entry level models; the Evader comes RTR and so it's just a case of charging the batteries and driving it!
See the Duratrax Evader rc buggy in more detail.
However, if you're looking for a true on-road racer then a car like this Ferrari Enzo from Charisma (shown below) could be a sound choice:
Electric cars like this typically run for around 15 minutes before they need to be recharged. This will get less as the motor battery pack ages, but a typical NiMH or NiCD electric rc car motor battery pack is good for around 1000 charges before performance starts to suffer.
Even so, it's always a good idea to carry one or two extra battery packs with you, as this means that you can still be driving your car while one pack is charging.
Upgrading the motor and using more powerful batteries can boost speeds up to 50mph, but you shouldn't really need to bother with doing this until you have some experience in controlling the car and start to race competitively at an rc car club.
Driving your electric RC car for the first time
Electric rc cars don't take much time to master, because of their simplicity. But always take the car to a large open area for your first proper drive. For example, this could be a park, or a parking lot or just a good sized backyard.
Drive the car slowly at first - don't just blast the motor onto full power as soon as you've put the car on the ground! It's important to get used to the way the car handles, and also get used to reversing so you can get yourself out of 'dead-end' situations easily.
In no time at all, you'll get to learn how your car operates, and then you can start adding the speed!
The electric rc cars on this page can be seen here.
Related pages
RC trucks - for more serious off-road driving.
Nitro rc cars - for more speed, and money!
Electric rc car motors - a general overview of motors used.
