A rechargeable electric power tool includes a motor driven by a secondary battery, a switching element for regulating power distribution to the motor, a motor control unit for controlling rotation of the motor through the switching element, a lead wire for supplying a drive current to the motor therethrough and a trigger switch changed over by a user for turning on or off the drive current supplied to the motor through the lead wire. In the rechargeable electric power tool, upon changeover of the trigger switch, a microcomputer determines a magnitude relation between a detected temperature outputted from a first thermistor and a first temperature threshold value. If the detected temperature is determined to be greater than the first temperature threshold value, the microcomputer is set in a limited operation mode in which a revolution number of the motor is limited to a predetermined value or less.