Gas turbine: JetCat P-62 RX — 185,000 RPMAs we mentioned, when you don't have pistons or oddly-shaped components moving up and down or around in an engine, the practical speed limit dramatically increases. This is because you're effectively limited only by the centrifugal force imparted to the material in question, which increases the farther away you get from the center of rotation. Larger gas turbines, like the ones in marine and power-generation applications, typically rotate at around 3,000-4,000 RPM for maximum efficiency. Smaller gas turbines found in full-size turboprop aircraft run at about 39,000 rpm for your typical powerplant, roughly ten times faster.However, smaller variants used in the model community achieve far higher speeds. The fastest among them is German company JetCat's smallest turbine on offer, the P-62 RX. Due to launch in the first quarter of 2026, this incredible little turbine engine runs off kerosene and small batteries, and is a scaled-down version of the engines used on real jet aircraft. As such, these things can reach some truly eye-watering speeds, with the P-62 RX topping the charts at a staggering 185,000 RPM. This number dwarfs almost everything else used in model vehicles; conventional powerplants scaled down to this size only hit about 19,000 RPM in similar high-speed applications.DC electric motor: Celerotron CM-series — 1 million rpmIt's frankly difficult to pinpoint an exact true highest rpm for electric motors, since technically these things don't really have speed limits. DC motors work by sending current through a coil to create a magnetic field, which spins a centrally-mounted shaft. Theoretically their top speed is governed by how fast the pulses can be sent and the integrity of the output shaft, and they require inverters to keep a lid on rotation. As such, smaller DC motors achieve some mind-boggling speeds, and are often used in tasks requiring extreme precision. For example, high-speed dental drills operate at several hundred thousand rpm, although they use compressed air. Some hobbyists have produced even higher numbers, including one DIY-er who got his motor to spin at 3.8 million rpm.In terms of actual production motors, we have the Swiss company Celerotron. In 2008, a team of engineers in Zurich, Switzerland created the first one-million rpm prototype for a production motor. They went on to establish Celerotron and build the CM series of ultra-high speed electric motors. The CM-2-500 produces 100 watts of power from a pole pair running at 500,000 rpm, though Celerotron and their subsidiary Maccon advertise a maximum of 1 million rpm. That makes it the fastest standalone production electric motor available for purchase. Alongwith the motor, the company also offers the CC-75 500 converter, also rated to 1 million rpm, plus a variety of compressors and other products intended for ultra-high-speed operation.