You won't beat an electric for power with the proper setup.
On the same note, a nitro machine will come close in performance, and cost a lot less to run.

What you choose just depends entirely on what appeals to you more. In their stock forms i'd say they're pretty evenly matched in performance.

With a custom motor and higher voltage setup, the electric will outperform the nitro one by quite a large margin, so long as you got the cash to back it up.