Electrically powered rc trucks make use of mechanical or electronic speed control units for adjustment of power for delivery to the electric motor. The power to be delivered is proportional to the capacity of throttle the transmitter requires. The more the trigger is pulled, the faster the electric rc vehicle engine is powered. This type of remote controlled truck has transistors responsible for production of varying output with smooth transition and much effectiveness. Electric rc trucks have electronic speed controllers that use solid state components for regulation of duty cycle and adjustment of powered put forward to the electrical motor. Furthermore, most electronic speed controllers sometimes use electric motor as a magnetic brake, thus offers more control of the model that can be possible with a mechanical speed control.

Mechanical speed controllers make use of a network of resistors to switch between them by rotation of the head with an electrode round a plate that has electrical contacts.  Because mechanical speed controllers are actuated by servos, they are generally slow to react, typically become dirty, their performance is intermittent, they don’t have a dedicated braking ability, and waste energy in the form of heat from the resistors.Mechanical speed controllers are less expensive compared to high performance electronic speed controllers used in electronic rc trucks but are gradually being phased out. Most of the electronic rc trucks have been using brushed motors up to recent where they now use brushless motors because of their higher power and require minimal maintenance.

Gasoline powered rc trucks are also know as “gassers” or “fuelies” and run on a mixture of oil and gasoline. They are much more expensive compared to electric and nitro remote controlled trucks. Because they are much bigger, they require more space for driving and have less speed than nitro and some electric rc vehicles.  The cost of running a gasoline powered remote controlled vehicle in the long run is less than some nitro powered remote controlled vehicles.  This is because of the high cost of the nitro fuel and buying of new nitro engines to replace the worn outs. The lifespan of gas powered motors for gas powered rc vehicles is long compared to those of nitro rc vehicles. Gas powered rc vehicles have become very popular in the United states but have been popular is Europe.

The electric powered rc vehicles are rated in Kv or relative turns. Kv refers to how many RPM a motor turns per volt assuming there is no load and the efficiency is maximum. The systems ability for power output depends on the quality of batteries used, connectors that supply the power and wires used. An electronic rc truck with a well wired brushed system is able to outperform one with a poorlywired brushless motor system most of the time. The higher power brushless motors posses makes it suitable for use in electronic rc trucks and 1/8 nitro powered buggies which have been converted to electric.  Brushless motors of high quality can be more powerful compared to nitro models.