Woodcrafter is on the right track.

I have used both brushed motors and brushless motors over the years with their associated ESCs....NB, the ESC must be suitable for the type of motor used, ie. brushed or brushless.
As long as your motor/ESC is matched, any battery (Lipo, NIMH, Nicad etc) will power the setup as long as..........the ESC/motor combination is rated for the voltage to be used.
Nominal value of one cell Lipo is 3.7V and fully charged is 4.2V.....two cell 7.4V and 8.4V, three cell 11.1V and 12.6V etc etc.