Retail pricing is out on Dewalt’s new FlexVolt battery packs (DCB606), which provide 6.0Ah capacity even if you don’t plan on buying any 60V Max or 120V Max tools to use it with.
There’s also a new 20V Max 6.0Ah battery pack on the way, which will be slightly larger than current 20V Max packs, but not quite as tall as FlexVolt packs. That’s the way of the future – higher capacity battery packs require more battery cells, or larger ones.
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The pricing on these packs is lower than I expected.
Additionally, there’s a new Portable Power Station kit out now. The Portable Power Station is $399, the kit, which comes with (3) 4.0Ah battery packs and (1) FlexVolt 6.0Ah battery pack, is $599. So for $200 you get 4 battery packs.
By no means is this a low cost of entry, at least compared to buying into the 20V Max system, but it’s a lot lower than I had anticipated.
I like that the Portable Power Station, one of my favorite new tools from the recent Dewalt media event, is bundled as part of a 4Ah and 6Ah battery kit. It gives you 4 batteries for lower than their market cost.
A 2-pack of 4Ah batteries is $129, meaning the lowest cost for 3x 4Ah batteries and 1x 6Ah battery, if you take the 2-pack pricing into account, is $293. Going from the bare tool to the kit is a very good deal – if you need the 4Ah batteries and want to buy into the FlexVolt system.
The PPS is a pricey accessory, but it’s one that I am anticipating with huge interest. As previously discussed, it’s a 4-port parallel charger, and also 110V 15A power source which can handle you corded tools. I’ve been waiting for something like this for the longest time!
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I’m not ready to give up my corded tools, but I sure am excited about the freedom the PPS will allow for!
Tim
This is not overly expensive in my eyes.
You’ll pay 99-139 for a 3.0ah 18v battery at the depot.
Funtionality of this seems worth it. I might buy into this system.
Stuart
The 3.0Ah batteries are 2 for $99 at Amazon and other retailers, especially during holiday shopping seasons.
Albert
Can we PLEASE get a line up of all the new 20v tools from the event? PLEASE?!
David Funk
Watch copybook on YouTube you can see most of them
David Funk
Coptool
Stuart
There aren’t that many new 20V Max tools, and to be honest I’ll need to refer to my notes, images, and press kits for full details.
There are some new adhesive guns, shears, a radio, a massive area light, the PPS, the threaded rod cutter, and I think that’s about it. FlexVolt was the star of the show.
Jason
I heard there was going to be something in the Fall for 20v tools. I don’t think it will be and event but more of a press release. Dewalt wanted all the attention on Flexvolt with this event.
JD
I saw a video from the event with the brushless 3/8 20v impact.
mike
@Stuart
question on new 20V Max 6.0Ah battery pack
what is the price ? / single batt or double pack prices ???
when is it expected to hit the market (actually be available)
cheers
Stuart
Prices are shown above.
$149 each, $199 for 2.
ETA: Soon?
Adam
The new 20V batteries are same price as Flexvolt??
jtr165
yeah, Stuart, we’re asking about the 6.0ah 20v max price, not the 6.0ah FlexVolt which is listed. Are they the same price? That would be pretty high for the 6.0ah 20v max as a pair of 5.0ah’s often go for that on Amazon….Also, why would anyone ever buy one then?
ca
I don’t know how accurate they are, but amazon.com says “usually ships in 3-6 weeks”
Mr. X
It seems like DeWalt has turned a corner of sorts. I have always considered DeWalt the #3 of cordless tools behind Milwaukee and Makita. My experience with each brand put DeWalt at #3 based on quality, design, and technology. The newer DeWalt offerings are promising and I am going to give them another try. I purchase tools for the vocational school where I teach Electrical shop and the students really test out the capability of power tools in every way imaginable, and in a few ways you could not imagine. If the newer DeWalt stuff holds up to student abuse, I’ll revise my opinion.
KenZ
I agree 100%. Dewalt used to lead back in the early 2000’s, and then when LiIon came out, they dragged their feet, and played conservative with the A123 cells which didn’t have the value/performance.
First, Makita kicked their (and everyone else’s) ass. Then Milwaukee jumped to the head of the line for sure, and have been dominating. Makita COULD have taken the crown back if they worked their X2 approach a bit better, but they’ve squandered it IMO.
But now… now I’d say Dewalt has totally catapulted to the top. This gives them SOOOOOO many options. They can go 20V. They could, if they wanted to, go 40V with an X2 approach. Or they go 60V (which they are) or 120V with an X2 60V approach. And the best part? It doesn’t have to be confusing to the consumer. You just buy one battery type, one charger, and get any damn tool you want. You need a cordless drill? 20V is plenty. Concrete hammer drill or circ saw? 60V should rock it. Table saw? 60 or 120V. Lawnmower with a full size deck? 120V.
Folks, I contend this is a truly revolutionary moment in power tools. With this approach we can absolutely, truly cut the cord for all but the extreme, fringe tasks. I never, ever thought Dewalt would figure out a way to compete for my business, but THIS is frickin’ amazing. Respect!
Jon
The PPS is a nice idea but I think it will be quite limited in run time because you are limited to the number of watt-hours of batteries you have.
With the kit as sold with three 4ah batteries and one 6ah battery you are looking about about 320 watt hours on board. Depending what you are running you could be looking at as little as 10 minutes of run time. Even a tool or item drawing only 320 watts is only going to run for an hour.
Also at $599 you are getting into the range of being able to buy a nice generator which offers vastly greater capability.
Andrew
Great pricing for 108 watt-hour packs.
Corded tools may use less watt-hours than you think. I built two small homes recently and watched the electric meters. One took 12 and one took 18 kwh. I suspect the compressors took much of this.
The pps is a modified sine wave, which limits some usefulness.
Blythe M
I would also be interested to hear an estimate on how long different tools (circular saw, router, rotary hammer drill, miter saw, etc) would run off the PPS with the batteries included in the bundle. Most relavent would be tools that aren’t widely available as cordless, which make the PPS more desirable
Joe
Thats a good point. Really close to the price of a honda eu2000.
Travis
It is also good to mention the portable power station (PPS) is only charging the batteries at 2amps which is not fast by any means. The new FlexVolt fast charger charges 20v batteries as well. The 2.0ah and below batteries get charged at 4amps while the larger batteries get charged at 8amps! A 5ah battery will be fully charged in under 35 minutes! However, the new twin charger (DCB132) only charges at 4 amps unlike the fast single charger.
mike
@ Stuart
Misunderstandig !!
I saw the prices for the flexvolt batts
my question is for the 20V 6Ah batteries (mentioned above as a side liner)
also model number would be good
as well as ETA
mike
Stuart
OH, okay, sorry about that.
Yea, no idea. Once they’re officially announced I’ll press for this info. But since they haven’t been announced yet, they probably won’t have this info to share.
I would think that the price would be 25% higher than for 5.0Ah, possibly a bit more. Maybe 30% higher?
Brian
cost of entry is getting quite high I think… maybe $100/battery is fair for a 6aH battery? but fair wont move volume to the DIY crowd.
Maybe Im wrong in thinking that dewalt needs the depot/lowes crowd to carry some of the volume. Itll hurt if those tool combos start at $300+ for flex volt tools.
Not sure if your prosumer will balk at a $150 (or even $100) battery entry point. Most wont NEED 6aH for their jobs. and 1 big battery is not equal to 2 small batteries for me, because that means more swapping between tools.
Bo
For the home owner the cost of entry to the dewalt 20v platform is very cheap. You can get a drill, 2 batteries, charger, and a bag to carry them for $99.
Nathan
for a battery I can use on multiple tools – one of which is a major work tool – it’s a hell of a deal.
2-6AH 20V battery for200 dollars (and that’s intro prices so you know it will work on down eventually) that doubles as a 2AH 60V battery when I want one.
and I don’t have a 6AH battery in my shop right now. if I was looking for capacity on my 20V system I’d be stupid not to buy the flexvolt battery – unless the 5AH 20V packs out now are just significantly cheaper. and they aren’t – yet.
Nathan
That said I figure a year from now that power station will come down enough in price to be worth getting – and it will probably replace my main charger use. Figure this time next year it will be closer to 200 bare tool or 300 with say 2 flexvolt packs included.
Rami
You guys really have cheap prices for tools out there. In Finland a 20V max 5ah battery costs 149€, I can´t even imagine what the Flexvolt batteries or tools will cost.
Rts
There is no one price in Finland , depents on the seller and how they get batteries. i need dewalt i can get 2x 5AH fresh + charger for a little more than 200 euros,with warranty. It is close to the right price.
I bought bosch 4,0 ah battery for 50eur = $56
Jerry
I like the direction DeWalt is going now a days. An adapter to use the new batteries on okokld tools, and now a clever battery that allows for two separate tool platforms to utilize the same battery, and it works using existing chargers. I always fe!t the average consumer, especially budget minded ones were best off finding a platform that gives them the tools they need, or at least most of them, to simplify things and keep cost under control. This lets the heavy users of cordless tools to use tools with corded equivalent power, as well as reasonably light and compact tools, all sharing the same chargers, and to an extent, batteries.
glenn
If you buy a two battery pack, they cost $100 each. If you buy a single battery they cost $149. Ridiculous.
OhioHead
DeWalt had an AC/DC corded converter when they had the 24 volt platform back in early 00’s……..I am shocked that DW has not released a converter for 20volt platform…….
firefly
Honestly I don’t see anything revolution about the new flexvolt. To be specific I don’t see any advantage over the current dual battery that Makita already offering.
The concept is the same, the end result is the same, the only different is the packaging. In fact a dual or triple independent battery is a lot more flexible because if you don’t have to carry the extra weight when you don’t need to.
Furthermore, if one of the 20v decided to crap out on the independent platform you can just replace the damaged now. Not so with the so called Flexvolt. Personally I see more disadvantage than advantage with the Flexvolt but I would love to have somebody enlighten me on this.
Travis
A Mazda Miata and Chevy Corvette. They are both cars, the concept is the same, the end result is the same, the only difference is the packaging.
Come on. 2 completely different machines. 4 cyl vs 8cyl. Makita dual battery (36v) vs DeWalt dual battery (108v or 120v with DeWalt marketing). Yeah, they are the same.
Nathan
So I got to read up on the new BT light – that’s very interesting and I’d like to know more about the alligator saw (mostly because I’ve never seen one that I know of) and those new adhesive dispensers.
Specifically the dispenser – that’s a tool I’ve always said I don’t need, won’t use much but by damn I’mma buy one.
Jack
My son and I work with tools everyday. He uses Makita & I use Dewalt. When I mentioned this new Flexvolt 60v/6.0 ah battery he laughed and said it more of Dewalts infamous marketing…and that I was being duped again. We bet a nice dinner. Please help me! Is the new Flexvolt 20v max battery that’s labeled 6.0 ah near the 20v label maintain the 6.0ah capacity in the 60v max tools? My son says fairly simple math calculations reveal the 20v/6.0ah battery is a 60v/2.0ah battery. I said everything I’ve read from Dewalt says its 60v and 6.0ah. Who’s buying our next nice dinner…him or me?
Corey
Unfortunately, you. Current black top 60v battery is 2ah on 60v, and 6ah on 20v. The revealed, but not announced yellow top 60v using new cells is a 3ah at 60v and 9ah at 20v.
taras
I really don’t see what all the hype of the PPS is all about, except as a multibay charger. Frankly, if you need that to power 1 AC tool, then it means you don’t have access to a power supply. So why would you drain the batteries that could be used to power your other tools to power only one tool, and then be stuck with dead batteries? If you often see yourself in a situation where you need to power an AC tool with no access to AC, then something like the Bosch power bank is a much better solution. Power your AC tools AND charge your cordless batteries.
Zach Robbins
I was about to pull the trigger and buy the 40v trimmer, hedger, saw, and blower. Is the new FlexVolt going to replace those systems in the near future?
And has anyone seen and test between Dewalts, Kobalts, and other cordless lawn tools?
Goodnight johnboy
It would be great if these companies would stop with the “20v max” bullshit. There’s nothing 20 volts about any battery that says it. Put a multimeter on any one of these companies “20v max” batteries & you’ll be disappointed to see that it’s just an 18 volt battery. It was and still is a marketing gimmick to get the dumbass who don’t know about tools into thinking that they’re getting more power for more $, because tools weren’t selling and I don’t know who started the lie 1st, probably SBD cuz they own just about all power tool brands. Then they all started that bullshit after the first liars sales started to jump. They’re smart enough to know that the dumbass dedicated to using only one brand is gonna see “20vmax” & buy all new tools because they think that 18v tools won’t get it done anymore cuz it doesn’t say “max” on the package. And look at the price difference between 18v & “20vmax” batteries, its night and day. For the same amount of voltage,except they may have added more plastic or put Christmas lights in it & charge more than what the tool costs. And now this “60v max” bullshit. They really need to stop with the gimmick, which obviously has gone way too far. Why would you want to use a tool that requires a “60v” battery. If I’m using a heavy duty tool that requires balls, it’s either electric (corded) or gas powered. If there ain’t power on site, buy a generator or get a temp power pole or borrow the power next door. It’s a goddamn shame that these companies have suckered the public into thinking that battery powered tools are “smarter” & sufficient enough to equal ac electric or gas powered tools. The heaviest battery powered tools I use is circ.&recip.saw. Which is very rare, anything heavier than that is a waste of time and money.
Corey
If you put a meter on the 20v pack just sitting on the counter, it’s going to show 20v. It’s nominal voltage. And the logic behind that odd branding was to differentiate the new lion slide pack platform from the extremely well known dewalt 18v xrp system. I can agree that this logic wasn’t an excuse for not calling flex volt 54v, maybe, maybe it was to not confuse customers, but that still seems like a mildly insulting stretch. As for price point, the 20v line is largely superior techologically to the old 18v nicad systems and justifies the bump, and compared to other 18v platforms of modern tech (m18) they’re typically much cheaper. And to circle back to the annoyance of nominal voltage labelling, sbd can hardly be called to blame for the branding as I challenge you to meter the “12v” pack of any brand on the market under load and not realize that nominal voltage mislabelling has been around a lot longer than you think.
Mike
How does one “borrow” power? Actually, I’d rather know how borrowed power is returned. Is it some sort of energy conversion situation? Like to borrow power electro-magnetically and return the energy as a combination of kinetic/heat? Cause where I live, neither end-use customers nor the energy utility accepts hot air as restitution for stolen electricity.