@mrnizzles: You bring up a good point about cost, but it isn't the only one. Allow me a moment to continue your discussion.

There is merit to finding the cheapest (price) to get into trying 8th scale electric. There is also merit to finding the most affordable (price + maintenance cost). There is also merit to finding the most value (price + maintenance cost + performance). Of course there's also merit to finding the best race car (performance).

A note on battery packs. Just because there's only 1 battery tray doesn't mean you can't still use 2x 2s packs, just stand them up side by side and wire them in series. Is it ideal? Probably not, but it can work fine that way too to keep entrance price down like you mentioned.

Personally, I want a combination of performance and maintenance cost, and the EB48 looks to be right there with reasonable costs to get into and an expected low cost to run, along with great performance characteristics.

Everybody wants something different...but the EB48 is giving a lot of people what they want. The hype around it at the tracks in the area is amazing, and more than I've seen for any other release. This does not mean that your car of choice isn't right for you or is bad, just that the EB48 is right for me and many others seem to think similarly.