Over in Europe, Bosch has announced two new 12V Max (10.8V) Li-ion products – a new 2.5Ah battery pack, and a new drywall screwdriver.
Bosch’s compact cordless tools are marketed as “12V Max” in the USA and North America, and “10.8V” in Europe and elsewhere.
There is no indication as to if or when these products will be announced and released in the USA.
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Bosch 12V Max 2.5Ah Battery Pack
Bosch is looking to be the first brand to offer 18V 6.0Ah battery packs, and is also going to be the first brand to offer compact 12V Max 2.5Ah Li-ion battery packs.
These new battery packs are compatible with all of Bosch’s 12V Max tools and chargers.
Right now these have only been announced in Europe, which is why the batteries have 10.8V branding. As you might already be aware, 12V Max = 10.8V, in a similar way that 20V Max = 18V.
The new battery pack will have a charging time of 60-minutes with standard fast chargers. It is about the same size and weight as the previous 2.0Ah batteries.
ETA: January 2015 in Europe
Pricing: 63 euros (~$77) individually, 109 euros (~$134) for a set of two batteries and a charger
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Bosch 12V Max Drywall Screwdriver
In discussion of the new 2.5Ah battery pack, Bosch showed off some of the tools whose kits will soon offer the new higher capacity battery.
Some of these tools, such as the jigsaw and circular saw, were announced in Europe last year, and the vacuum was announced only recently.
At the top right is a tool I haven’t seen before – a new compact brushless drywall screwdriver, model GSR 10,8 V-EC TE. It is rated as being able to drive up to 1,200 screws 3.5mm a 35mm into softwood per full 2.5Ah battery charge.
As with the batteries, it is unclear as to if/when this might be released in the USA. Bosch’s 18V brushless drywall screwdriver, first announced in August 2013, has not yet made it to the USA. Maybe both tools will be launched here sometime in 2015.
John
Too bad Bosch doesn’t show the US some love when it comes to this platform. Recently added some Milwaukee 12V tools to my collection and don’t regret it at all.
fred
My ex-compatriots recent bought a few of the new Makita brushless 18V drywall screwdrivers and so far they like them. Time ill tell how they hold up – since we had some issues with the older model’s clutch.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-18-Volt-LXT-Lithium-Ion-Brushless-Cordless-Drywall-Screwdriver-Tool-Only-XSF03Z/205623292?N=5yc1vZc27fZyg
cody
Hitachi has had a 2.5 ah 18 volt battery out for over 6 months. And comes with some combo kits that are sold in the US.
Stuart
There’s only 1 Hitachi USA combo I know of with a 2.5Ah battery pack, and it also comes with a 1.3Ah pack. The drill in their combo is also their budget model, which helps to explain why there aren’t 2 high capacity battery packs included.
Still, I said that it looks like Bosch is the first to bring out a 12V Max 2.5Ah battery pack. Other brands are surely capable of coming out with 2.5Ah compact battery packs in 12V and 18V platforms, but they likely want to keep compact kit costs below a certain level.
mike
Nice they are upgrading battery size but they’ve had 4ah 12v batteries for a while now.
JT
I would rather have a higher capacity extended battery pack. (5Ah rather than the current 4Ah).
I don’t think you want to use a compact battery on a vacuum or circular saw.
This 2.5Ah might be useful for anyone who owns their heated jacket.
Drew
FWIW, all these packs use 18650 cells and ~3Ah cells have existed for quite some time. It seems that it just takes tool manufacturers forever to adopt the latest cells.
http://goinggear.com/flashlights/batteries/eagletac-protected-18650-3400-mah-rechargeable-3-7v-li-ion-battery.html
Aellynh
The batteries you linked to are in no way comparable to the cells used in power tools. The Eagletac 3400s are high capacity, but very low current. They are only able to provide 4-5 amps of current, as a trade off for their higher amp-hours. If you tried using them in a power tool battery pack for anything besides a very light duty tool like a flashlight or fan, the batteries would overheat or worse, explode due to going way over their capacity.
18650s for power tools are a lot lower in capacity, somewhere between 1300 and 2500 milliamps in capacity and the 2.5AH batteries are only available with the very newest cell chemistry introduced this year. They’re quite a bit lower in capacity, but they can safely deliver 20-30+ amps in a 5-cell battery and double that in a 10-cell battery.
Stuart
Here’s a post I wrote earlier in the year about power tool battery packs and the cells they use: https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/power-tool-brands-dont-make-their-own-batteries/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
The Samsung batteries Milwaukee uses in some of their recent battery packs have discharge ratings of 20-25A.
That battery you linked to can only deliver up to 5A of instantaneous current, and probably cannot sustain such a load over time. Its 3.4Ah capacity is for a 0.2C current draw, which would be 0.68A.
When I last checked, there weren’t many 2.5Ah cells that were rated for power tool use, and no 3.0Ah cells available. Apparently that has changed since Bosch’s 6Ah battery packs are in development and probably production by now.
There’s also a cost consideration. Premium just-released batteries will transfer considerable costs to users. If a brand can only price batteries at $120 when new higher capacity cells are available, they’re not going to make as many sales as another brand that waits a year to be able to price their battery packs at $99.
Drew
So, a ~10C minimum continuous discharge rating is required? Interesting. I never would have guessed that these little tools really used that much power. I suppose that is the driving factor towards brushless as they should be able to hit much higher motor efficiency specs.
Stuart
I haven’t looked at 12V packs yet, only 18V, but I assume that ratings might be similar. That way brands can get maximum bulk order discounts.
huuh
Those tools will use as much power as is available. 10,8V * 20A = 216 gross watts. They could easily use more.
BikerDad
Looking good. I’m wondering if the move to brushless will help longevity/durability of the drywall drivers? A cordless platform for the drywall guns makes a lot of sense, because those guys move quick and cords will be getting in the way.
I for one am looking forward to the brushless mini-reciprocating saw and impact driver.
Stuart
That’s not a brushless recip saw – it’s the same as the one featured in last week’s deal post – https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/bosch-12v-reciprocating-saw-deal-122014/%3C/a%3E .
That saw’s EU model number doesn’t have an EC designation, which all the other brushless tools do have.
Pete
Wow 1,200 drywall screws with the 2.5ah battery pack! That’s moderately impressed. I would like to see what a milwaukee fuel drywall could do.
olki
неплохое фото гипсокартонника 10,8v
http://www.mastercity.ru/showthread.php?t=54541&p=4894767&viewfull=1#post4894767
Stuart
Thanks, that is a great photo of the new brushless drywall screwdriver!
KL
Nice! I’d love to see these from Milwaukee. Ironically for drills and such I hardly care about even the old 1.3ah vs the new 2.0 (speaking compact 12V packs of course) but in our heated gear I can definitely tell the 2.0 provides more run-time than the 1.3 or 1.5ah packs. I’d love a 2.5ah compact 12V pack!
CB
I just bought the 12v oscillating and Reciprocating saw. They both came with BAT413 1.5Ah batteries.
They don’t even compare to my 1 year old 414 2.0Ah batteries, I find I have a lot more oomph and longevity with my 2.0Ah batteries compared to the 1.5Ah’s. The more oomph is what I notice the most.
Out of the six batteries I have, I only tend to use my two 2.0Ah batteries. I would love to try the 2.5Ah. Wouldn’t really need the big 4.0Ah batteries as those would way as much as my 18Ah tools.
I love my Bosch 12v