Dewalt has just announced a new higher capacity battery pack. The new Dewalt DCB612 battery will be compatible with FlexVolt and 20V Max tools, and boasts a 12.0Ah capacity.
There will also be a new 4-port charger (DCB104) that can recharge up to 4 of the new 12.0Ah battery packs, simultaneously, in 120 minutes. Slower chargers will take a lot longer, and so you’ll want one of the new chargers, or at least a FlexVolt rapid charger.
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The new 12.0Ah battery will charge from any Dewalt 20V Max charger, except maybe charger radios that can’t fit the new battery pack in enclosed compartments.
Price: $249
ETA: Summer 2018
Compare(Dewalt FlexVolt 9.0Ah Battery via Amazon)
Compare(9.0Ah 2-pack via Amazon)
Dewalt says:
The 20V/60V MAX* FLEXVOLT® 12.0Ah Battery (DCB612) is optimized for use in new and existing DEWALT tools designed for high-power applications.
What kind of new tools do you think they’re talking about? My vote is for a 120V Max (dual FlexVolt battery) 10″ table saw.
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Rami
I guess they will bring out a 230mm (9 inch) angle grinder as Metabo already has one in their 36V system, and maybe a 1/2 inch Flexvolt router. A Flexvolt dual battery stick welder? A Flexvolt beam saw like the Skilsaw sawsquatch? I personally would like to see rescue tools used by firefighters in car crashes, as there are such tools using Milwaukee M18 batterys.
Joren
Rami,
These already exist – and have for a while. I believe these use Flexvolt as shown in the pictures. Used to be these tools used the 24V packs of Dewalt “old”.
http://www.amkus.com/product-type/ion-battery-powered-rescue/
Rami
Too bad they are mede by Amkus, as nobody seems to sell them in Finland. Holmatro and Lukas dominates here.
Joren
For sure. Hurst / Holmatro are the two dominant brands in the departments I’ve been with on the east coast of the USA, so even here, they seem oddly “unavailable”
Altan
DeWALT does not have a cordless 230mm (9″) grinder, It is just Metabo with two 18V batteries (36V), but 60V(54V) cordless 230mm grinder with 12Ah battery from DeWALT would be amazing, 230mm grinders are big normally and heavy as well, so I prefer the one which operates with one battery only!
BOB
They produce the 230mm Flexvolt cutoff saw
ca
I hope they make a corded/cordless table saw. And one with more than 16” capacity.
I just bought their cordless planer and that thing sucks down the juice, so this battery would be good for that.
jtr165
Not sure what you mean w/ 16″ capacity? Rip wise the current FV table saw can do 24″ right? Do you mean the size of the table itself?
the current model seems to be mostly for sheets. The smaller blade gives less depth, and the single miter slot prevents making any decent sleds/jigs for the most part.
I have limited space but hobby around with a lot of reclaimed lumber. Built flattening sleds for my planer and do a lot of resawing with my dewalt 745 tablesaw. I’m all about cordless ‘big’ tools like that since my garage/shop is not wired to handle much running at the same time, but the current FV table saw had too many limitations to replace what I currently have. A 10″ model that is still somewhat portable would be on the top of my list.
Altan
Or the size of the blade?!!! :)))
alex
Wow I didn’t expect 12AH to be possible in term of logistics. Wonder how they are able to transport these on a plane. Will be great for big stationary tools 🙂
Philip
The lock will disengaged the rows of cells. I am guessing total watts will be 240… Dived by 3 its still under the FAA limit of 100 amph.
Lance
216Wh / 3 = 72Wh
It’s 54V, not 60. And it’s 4Ah, not 12. It’s only 12Ah on an 18V tool.
Stuart
They use 20V in watt-hour ratings.
Officially, this is a 240 Whr battery.
Ryan
How do they get away with that on a platform that is technically 18v? Milwaukee doesn’t rate their batteries like that.
David Funk
They charge them to 20.4 volts
Andrew
Yeah, how do they get away with this? Doesn’t matter that they charge to 20.4V. They average 3.6 or less over the course of the discharge. You simply can’t get 240 Whr out of these batteries. You can get 20.4 volts. You can get 12 Amp-hours. But not at the same time 🙂
Stuart
The watt-hours aren’t usually a marketing point. Until today, I have only ever seen the watt-hours rating on the back of battery packs.
Joe, Man of Steel
“They use 20V in watt-hour ratings.
Officially, this is a 240 Whr battery.”
Uh…except in Europe where they’re legally not allowed to call their batteries “20 volt” because the “MAX” is a cheesy distinction that has no electrical merit? Even on this side of the pond, many of us know the difference between nominal voltage and terminal charge voltage. Moreover, SBD seems to be slowly inuring North American DW owners with ever more “18V XR” references in their propaganda. You can bet they’ll drop the 20V charade in the next year or two, at which point you can bet the “official” voltage will be eighteen point five.
bucko
i dont no what do you all mean by 54volts i have four 9.0ah dewalts ran in 60volt mode hook up in parallel at 12ah`s wired to a 48volt ebike and after the batterys fully charge reads 61.5 volts i can ride in pedal assist 2 three to 5 miles and the batterys will only go down to 61.2 only loose about .3 volts and that pretty good 60volts mean 60 cuz i got a 54.6 volt battery that came with my bike samsung 18650 cells and it dont compair to this dewalt battery
Stuart
60V Max = 54V nominal.
Jared
Nice. This would be a good compliment for my chainsaw – the 9.0ah pack is good, but it doesn’t last a super long time. The chainsaw also has an enclosed compartment for the battery pack – I hope that doesn’t pose any problems with the new pack. It certainly doesn’t look any larger.
Joren
From the Dewalt website “in the same size as our 9.0 Ah Battery” – sounds like if the 9AH battery fit in the charger / tool, the 12AH will as well.
Joe, Man of Steel
Sounds like they “upgraded” the cells and nothing more. So it’s like every other DW li-ion pack.
farid
Fr9m a consumer side, lawn and garden tools would benefit greatly. Lawnmower anyone? I would love to see a nice edger using these as well. Blower that match gas engine performance with good run-time probably closer to reality.
The yeti
Thats big time power
Garrick
My question is: How much of the extra amperage comes from smaller cells, and how much comes from using more of them?
In other words: How much have they improved the power to weight ratio of the packs?
My preference has always been to use the smaller packs, because the tools are easier to handle with them, they charge faster, and are less expensive. I don’t mind taking a short break to swap them. I can always use a little thinking time.
Stuart
It’s hard to compare them in those terms.
When paired with a 20V Max tool for light to medium duty requirements, I would expect this battery pack to deliver 3X the runtime of a 4.0Ah battery pack.
But in terms of power, these cells are at least as highly rated as the 2.0Ah cells in 4.0Ah packs, and I’d say higher rated than the 2.5Ah cells, and definitely higher rated than 3.0Ah cells.
So let’s compare against a 4.0Ah with 10 high performance 2.0Ah cells. Well, these batteries have 15 high performance 4.0Ah cells. Making assumptions, they’d have at least 50% higher power draw ceiling, resulting in cooler operation.
But for a lot of tools, a 10-cell 4.0Ah battery pack, or 3 of them, might be more cost-efficient, not to mention more ergonomic to use with a lot of tools.
The biggest benefit from this battery pack will be to power FlexVolt tools, and the very-power-hungry tools that have come out, and will be coming out. Or tools that can stand to benefit from longer runtime, where there’s less consideration to size or weight.
Right now, you can buy 2x 5.0Ah battery packs for $150 at Amazon. That’s $15 per amp-hour.
2x 9.0ah, for 18Ah total, will set you back $279. That’s $15.50 per amp-hour.
This pack is $20.8 per amp-hour.
This isn’t going to be the best buy for a lot of handheld tools, from price, size, weight, and ergonomics considerations.
Jared
I think you just talked me into buying a 9.0ah two-pack instead of waiting for this 12.0ah to come out.
Survivor
ACME Tools runs some of the best sales I’ve seen. Two or three times a year I’ve seen a site-wide discount code sale for a couple of days, it’s a good time to hit up a battery stock.
Altan
Smaller packs in grinders for cutting metal is useless!
Grnch
The timing of this announcement is… interesting.
I think DeWalt is trying to steal Milwaukee’s thunder right before they announce their own 12Ah “M18 breakthrough” at their upcoming NPS18 conference.
Pete
Thats exactly what i was thinking, much like milwaukee last year already had their rebutal for dewalts flexvolt and released it the same hour(?) as dewalt announced their flex volt.
Joe
Awesome, simply awesome……but still need more for 60v tools….so the 60v at 6 ah is 2ah and the 9ah is 3ah so this 12ah will be 4ah…..the 60v tools need to get to at least 5ah..so that’s 15ah ? …..we use all Flexvolt tools framing, so this is good news but more is needed.
Steve
Were you satisfied with the 5ah 20v packs when you were using 20v tools? That was only 100 watt hours. The new 60v pack has 240 watt hours. Almost 2.5x the energy capacity. More is always better, but this is a huge improvement over what was available just a couple years ago and as far as I know more than whats available from other brands.
Big Adam
With a little rebranding…….
http://group.renault.com/wp-content/uploads/blog/fr/2013/04/twizy-sport-F1.jpg
Gene
Lawn mower and edger would be nice. But I am really waiting for router and sanders.
Altan
60V 1/2″ router and 20V 1/4″ router!
Tool Of The Trade
As if the flexvolt tools aren’t the heaviest cordless tools already, a battery of this size could very well cause fatigue a lot sooner than expected due to the weight. The $249 price tag is a joke. You can get a flexvolt 6ah battery for less than a hundred dollars, but a 12ah battery costs more than double of the price for a 6ah? Really? Either dewalt doesn’t keep up with what their flexvolt batteries are selling for or they are just blatantly ripping people off. I’d say it’s the latter & you’d have to be a fool to not see it and it would be foolish to pay what they’re asking when you can get the same amount of ah from 2 batteries for a much cheaper price. There’s something very wrong with this.
Big Adam
When was the last time you actually bought a power tool for the MRRP?
Not sure I ever have.
Danny
You must work for Milwaukee
Steve
It’s a more expensive cell in the new pack. The 12ah is using a 21700 cell. They are still fairly new so the cost per ah is still high on them. It’s just the way it is. Everything isn’t always linear the way you think it is.
Karl Milhon
So, it appears that based upon which AH battery you buy, DeWalt has all three sizes of cells in them..???? Doesn’t seem very efficient from an economy of scale purchasing standpoint…
Corey
You never seem happy, brother lol let people enjoy something, eh?
Joe, Man of Steel
It’s the same size, tho.
Diplomatic Immunity
I get a feeling more and more that their 40V line is a doomed platform. It feels as though Flexvolt will take over landscaping and higher power draw carpentry items.
Chance
Oh my word, for the tenth time, no the 40V line isn’t dead, it’s not dying, and it won’t die. There are 40V tools planned for the next couple of years. The 40V and the 60V are marketed to two totally different markets. The 40V is for professional use, the 60V is a great tool, but marketed towards home-gamers that want to say they have the highest voltage OPE tools that DeWalt makes. IIRC, you own 40V tools, look at the size of a 40v 7.5 ah battery compared to even the biggest 60V, not even a comparison as to how much energy is packed into that 40V battery.
Joren
So for a home gamer, what is the difference between the 40 and 60V tools of the same variety – say the chainsaw?
Or is it more of a difference in the variety of the tools (some 40V tools don’t have a 60V equivalent)?
PatrickD
For the home gamer, I’d definitely go with the 20V/60V Max… much better platform for the homeowner. The 40V has a little bit more power.
I am committed to Milwaukee, but I recently bought the 60v max chainsaw as Milwaukee is lagging. I am very pleased with the power and haven’t found a need to pick up my Stihl MS250 (which I hate).
Stuart
Readers have mentioned seeing similar specs between FlexVolt and 40V Max versions.
40V Max is aimed at pro landscapers, FlexVolt are aimed at other serious users.
Unless you’re a pro landscaper who has no need for other 20V Max and FlexVolt tools, the FlexVolt platform will be the better way to go.
Joren
Thanks Stuart. I’d still love to see additional of the tools in the 40V lineup show up on the 60V line – I don’t need the runtime of the 40V packs, but still would like the tool.
When they are spec’ed the same or similar, do they actually perform the same, just for a shorter run time due to Wh differences in the packs?
Diplomatic Immunity
Depends on how many amps these have in 60V mode and whether or not they use dual 60V batteries in 120V mode. I would be interested in how a lawn mower that takes two of these batteries compares with that 40V 7.5 ah in terms of power, battery run time overall, etc.
Darth
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the 40v 7.5 battery have a higher capacity still?
Wouldn’t it be 40×7.5 for a capacity of 300 watts of power.
While this is a smaller batter, it would ‘only’ have 240 watts of power?
Stuart
That is correct.
That’s a big selling point of the 40V Max system. I don’t think it’ll be supplanted by the FlexVolt form factor, at least not anytime soon.
Chris
I agree 100%. If your buying for yard work stick with 40V. You’ll find everything you’d need to complete all your yard work where as 60V is lacking some important must have tools.
The yeti
I have one 40v tool. I like it. I want more. I also worry they are killing it off. Hard to find 40v on Amazon.ca and hard to find in town
Carter Johnson
With 4ah 60v (12ah 20v….) batteries now out, I hate to say it but the 40v system is dead and totally irrelevant on all accounts. Say bye bye.. Sorry for anybody who jumped on board. I would be astonished to see them around in a few years.
the 40v system has limited tool (most of which have 60v version) that offers only slightly better run time.
Go 60v and do not look back. You will not regret this. Promise.
Stuart
I can see why you might say that, but 40V Max is still very much relevant. And it’ll be supported for years and years. Dewalt isn’t going to abandon their pro landscaper users.
BadNews
40v line is discontinued…..
Paul Sikkema
Troy-Bilt’s new Electric Riding mower uses a 1500 WH, 26 AH, 56 volt pack. (Mows one hour and charges in 4 hours)
DeWalt is getting close to being able to power a rider with these batteries!
taras
Yeah, ok. You would need more than 6 of these batteries to offer the same Troy-Bilt equivalent. Not even close. With that logic, Milwaukee wasn’t that far off when they came out with their 9.0 battery. You would only need 9.25 of those for the mower.
Anderson
I’d like to see a 10” dual bevel sliding compound miter saw. On day one of using the 7 1/4” saw I realized its limitations. It’s a great saw, but sometimes a bit more is needed and I don’t really ever need a 12”. The 10” would be perfect for me. More compact than a full 12” saw with more cut capacity than the 7 1/4”.
Andrew
So I wonder if these are larger? I’m not aware of 20700 cells that are 4 amp hour and more than 15-20 amp continuous rating. That would be the Sanyo 20700b cell.
Samsung has a 21700 cell that’s 30-40 amp continuous capable and 4 amp hours.
Joe
Dewalt said it’s the same size as the 9ah …someone above said it has 21700 cells
Stuart
I’m still waiting for confirmation, but I believe it’ll be the same size and weight.
Survivor
My 1800w portable power station is about to get a HUGE upgrade in run time. Wow, 12 amp hour. Those heavy SDS hammer/chipping drills are going to be a beast with that 12Ah back pushing them along. That price is high though, I’ll definitely be buying extended warranty for these babies.
Eric
I am very excited about this. I will get at least one to see how it stretches out of the use of the chainsaw and blower.
I ended up with four of the 9ah batteries and with the portable power station they have completely changed the game for me. While it does nothing that a generator does not, it is quiet and only draws energy during use, actually giving me more useful time for what I do.
charles
I swung into ACME Tools yesterday and they were not aware of the 12AH packs yet. They did list a price of $279.99 through their catalog but no availability yet.
One fine detail, apparently the 60/20V FlexVolt batteries are not compatible with the adapter that allows 20V batteries to be used in older 18V tools? I have a dozen of the old 18V tools and the adapter looked like a good option when I needed to replace the batteries. Except no tool or battery pack has failed yet… Maybe a non issue for me.
The power station is going to be my first 20v or FlexVolt unit. I need a power backup for the furnace in the winter and that is the least expensive and most flexible way to get it done. Then the FlexVolt chainsaw and after that probably a string trimmer and leaf blower. Stihl was earlier to market but I’d rather have the expensive part of the system (batteries) useful for more than one device.
B
One problem I ran into with my pellet stove is that it won’t operate without a pure sine wave. This is something that the portable power station doesn’t have.
Rendered Insane
Thanks Stuart for the heads up as usual.
I am a home gamer in the UK and i have steadilly been growing my 54v stable since late 2016,as well as 18v tools.
The string trimmer has been a game changer and i am hoping for a 54v mower soon.
This would be great for a rental property where you didnt want to disturb the occupants by asking to use the power outlet!
Altan
DeWALT should make these tools:
20V 1/4″ Router, 60V 1/2″ Router, 20V Dual Orbit Random Orbital 150mm Sander, 60V 1/2 Sheet Orbital Finishing Sander, 20V Biscuit Joiner, 120V Flexvolt Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner, 12V 3.5″ Tile Cutter (similar to Makita CC301DZ), 60V Tile Table Saw/Cutter (similar to Porter Cable one), 60V 7″-9″ Grinder, 60V Mower, 60V Soldering Tool (for Plumbers, similar to Antex Pipemaster ), 10″ 120V Table Saw, 8V Rotary Tool 1/8″ collet size (similar to Dremel 8100-N/21), 60V Concrete Vibrator, 20V Grass Shear (similar to Makita DUM168), DS320 (This model number is my invention!) Toughsystem Site Light (similar to Festool Duo-Plus Syslite) which would have the legs and the light all together in one Toughsystem box, DS200 Toughsystem Power Hub (similar to Festool Sys-PowerHub Systainer), 12V Planer (similar to Bosch GHO 12V-20), 60V Variable Speed Jigsaw and definitely AC adapter for 60V tools.
Notalearneduser
What is really needed. A robotic lawn mower capable of 1 acre of grass, or about 1.3 hours of operating time. Thus needing two 12 amp 60v for 120v total.
Instead of the ones that need boundries, it should be “learning”. The user mows the yard once, and the mower does it the same way afterward, with the ability to recognize obstacles and moving objects, like children. Put a handle on it, that can be taken off, so it does both manual and automatic.
My drone can recognize my face and follow me, while avoiding obstacles in 3 dimensions, and taking 4K video, anywhere in world, for less than $1,000. Where is the mower with one fourth the artificial intelligence?
Big Richard
I may have missed it somewhere in this novella, but does this new beast utilize the 20700 cells or the 21700 cells?
Stuart
I haven’t taken my sample apart yet to check or measure.
When I asked Dewalt, this was their response: The DCB612 is designed to accommodate large-format lithium ion cells which will provide consistent, best-in-class performance and runtime.
Big Richard
That’s a solid corporate response. I’ll check back to see if you ever do dismantle your sample. Thanks Stuart.
Michael Bracey
I have an 18 volt hammer drill and impact with a 20 volt converter I used my 20 volt lithium batteries on them I also have a 20 volt impact that come with 2 lithium batteries will this Flex vote lithium battery work on my DeWalt tools? Thanks in advance Mike
Stuart
It will work with the Dewalt 20V Max drill, but not the 18V adapter.
Karl Milhon
Still wanting to know what kind of cells are in the different ones. Right now, it’s my understanding that the 18650’s are in the smallest ones but that information was from 2016 with 21700’s in the 9AH and now 21700’s or 20700’s in the 12 AH? Anyone know for sure.
DeWalt also changed the color from black to yellow on top? I’m really just curious, but no one tearing them down on video seems to address this particular aspect.
Big Richard
Karl, yes I know for sure, see below.
The DCB606 6Ah batteries still use 18650 cells. They recently changed the top color from black to yellow, cells are still the same.
The DCB609 9Ah batteries used 20700 Sanyo NCR20700A cells from 2016-2018, and 21700 Samsung 30T cells from 2019-present. You can tell when they switched to the 21700 cells, as they also added three silver heat sinks on top of the battery.
The DCB612 12Ah battery has always been the same 21700 Samsung 40T cells.