Traxxas E-Revo vs Traxxas Revo 3.3
This hobby is all about fun and passion. For many of you (which includes me), like to have more for the every dollar we spend in this hobby. In the last few months, many bashers and racers moved to LiPo batteries because of their performance and runtime. Recently, Traxxas released the E-Revo which is the electric version of the popular Revo. I took both trucks and compared them to find out which gives you the more for the money. The good old nitro or the new Lipo…
| Item | LiPo | Nitro | Item selected |
| Vehicle | 440 | 460 |  Traxxas E-Revo  Traxxas Revo |
| Battery | 550 | Not Required |  MaxAmps E-Revo kit Dual 8000HV 7.4V |
| Misc | 30 | Not Required |  MaxAmps Novak Smart Stop 4S |
| Power Supply for the charger | 85 | Not Required |  Ofna Power Supply |
| Battery pack for EZ-Start | Not Required | 27 |  Team Associated Wolfpack 6C 7.2V 3600mAh |
| Charger for battery pack (EZ-Start) | Not Required | 50 |  DuraTrax Onyx 210 AC/DC Peak Charger w/LCD |
| Glow Plug | Not Required | 6 |  OS LC4 Glow Plug |
| Fuel | Not Required | 35 |  Byron Gen 2 Race Fuel |
| Total | 1105$ | 578$ |
The numbers…
Nitro
Street price for a gallon of fuel: 35$us
Fuel in a gallon: 3786ml
Fuel in a tank: 150ml
Number of fuel tank in a gallon: 25.24
Runtime on a single fuel tank: approx 9 minutes
Total runtime on a gallon: 227.16 minutes (3.79 hour)
Cost per fuel tank: 1.39$us
Cost per minute of runtime for 1 gallon: 0.15$us (This doesn’t include glow plugs, air filter oil, replacement engine and others specific parts to nitro like clutch shoes that will need to be replaced with time).
LiPo
According to MaxAmps, their LiPo packs has enough power for 30 minutes of runtime which equals to four tanks (600ml) on the Revo.
Street price for LiPo Pack: 340$ (MaxAmps E-Revo kit Dual 8000HV 7.4V)
Runtime with a single charge: 30 minutes
It takes only 7.572 charges to equal the equivalent in runtime of 1 gallon of nitro
Initial cost per minutes of runtime: 11.33$us
Cost per minute of runtime after 75.72 charges (10 gallons): 0.15$us
Cost per minute of runtime after 151 charges (20 gallons): 0.08$us
Pros and cons
LiPo Pros:
- No messing with the carb, just plug and play
- Less maintenance than nitro
- Quiet
Nitro Pros:
- More realistic
- Odor and noise !
- No need to recharge, simply refill the tank and you are ready for another 9 minutes of fun
LiPo Cons:
- Requires expensive chargers and battery packs
- LiPo still afraids many people
Nitro Cons:
- Messy
- Noisy
- More maintenance than LiPo
Conclusion
According to my numbers, the more you run your LiPo powered vehicle the more you will have for your money. It takes the equivalent of ten gallons for the LiPo (75 battery charges) to reach the cost per minute of runtime of the nitro. On another hand, after ten gallons, chances are that you will need a new engine. So which one is the best? I think if you don’t care to miss the smoke and the noise of a nitro, LiPo is the best.
For this article, I kept everything box stock and this is why I didn’t pick brushless motors for the E-Revo (The E-Revo brushless is not out yet). I didn’t take in consideration the initial buying price (1105$ for the E-Revo vs 578$ for the Revo). I assume the nitro engine, LiPo packs and motors will last ten gallons or 75 charges. In a “real” world, I doubt the engine and the motors will last the equivalent of ten gallon and this is where the numbers change. A replacement engine vary between 175$ and 200$. Such engine replacement will make the cost per minutes grow to 0.24$. Brushless motors and ESC will also boost the numbers of the E-Revo. You can play as much as you want with the numbers; there is no limit to what numbers can say.
Now have fun, no matter you run LiPo or Nitro !
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