Lowe’s announced this morning that they will be launching an exclusive partnership with EGO, expanding their outdoor power tool offerings.
Lowe’s will be:
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expanding its industry-leading portfolio of outdoor power brands as it launches of EGO, the number one brand in battery-powered outdoor equipment.
Starting in December 2020, Lowe’s will be the exclusive nationwide home center to offer EGO’s battery-powered mowers, blowers, string trimmers, hedge trimmers, edgers, chainsaws, and snowblowers.
EGO offerings will be available online at Lowe’s website and at select stores in Fall 2020, and the roll out will continue to all US stores by February 2021.
Bill Boltz, Lowe’s executive vice president of merchandising, said the following about the new exclusive partnership:
We are relentless in bringing the best quality, innovation and brands to our consumers, and today’s announcement is another bold step forward in our pursuit of bringing the best outdoor power equipment offering to our stores.
EGO is an undisputed industry leader in creating cutting-edge technology and design. This line of cordless power equipment is trusted by both DIY and Pro customers to take on any lawn and garden project, with convenience and ease.
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Chervon, owner of the EGO tool brand, has said the following:
Chervon is excited to extend our partnership with Lowe’s to include EGO, the #1 rated brand in cordless outdoor power equipment.
We also look forward to the nationwide introduction of the all new SKIL 40V, 20V and 12V lineups.
– Mike Clancy, CEO Chervon North America
This exclusive partnership with EGO follows a Honda Power Equipment launch earlier in the year, and a partnership that makes Lowe’s the only nationwide home center to offer Ariens ZTR mowers and snow-clearing products.
Lowe’s will also begin carrying select Skil battery-powered outdoor power equipment in late 2020, including push and self-propelled mowers, leaf blowers, string trimmers, hedge trimmers, and other products and accessories.
Read Also: Skil Launches PWRCore 40V Cordless Outdoor Power Tools
Lowe’s lawn & garden and outdoor power equipment brand portfolio will now include Honda, Ariens, John Deere, Craftsman, Husqvarna, EGO, and Skil.
It will be interesting to see how things progress. News reports over the past few months have described Lowe’s as “closing the gap” with Home Depot, and moves like this will no doubt give them a competitive boost.
Matt Roberson
So I’m assuming, if I’m reading “exclusive” correctly, that Home Depot will be clearancing out EGO products in the next few months since they will no longer be carrying them?
Stuart
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/home-depot-discontinues-ego-cordless-outdoor-power-tools-072020/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Aaron
It will likely be discretionary at the store manager level. Locally my home Depot almost never clearances anything even when it is happening nationally. at my Lowes they get a rumour from corporate and clearance the whole department while pouring out gasoline and lighting a match.
Adam
Not likely with this kind of announcement. It really depends on the vendor agreement with Home Depot. Does Home Depot own these and ego already got their cut of the sale, or does Home Depot only get their money when the item is sold. If HD doesn’t “own” them, they will probably be RTV’d (return to Vendor) and actually get returned to them because of how many their are.
If HD owns them, expect clearance prices any day now.
Caleb Allen
Its amazing to me the differences in clearance sections depending on where you are in the country. In NC, the Lowe’s around here have a pathetically small clearance section. Typically its only stuff people have opened and taken something out, like half a box of screws or a tube of caulk that has a split in it. No tools ever.
Every Home Depot has at least 4 end caps of clearance stuff broken into tools, electrical, plumbing and outdoor stuff. I get stuff from there all the time!
CountyCork
Yeah they are still selling Dewalt 40v only at full price.
CountyCork
online.
Frank D
Home Depot and Clearance …
Rarely if ever and then only with minimal discounts.
May vary by region and store.
I have better luck with clearance prices and discounts at Lowes.
Doug N
I suppose Chevron wanted a bigger share of the profits from HD. Assuming they got a better deal from Lowe’s will be interesting to see if prices rise slightly.
Ego makes great stuff but I’ve been waiting for them to update to the newer 21700 cells in their batteries before jumping into their platform.
Doug N
Chervon not Chevron.
Lance
21700 cells are the same as 18650, just bigger. Their current strategy is to use more 18650 cells to increase capacity. Two 18650 cells have greater capacity and higher discharge rates than a single 21700. They also have more total surface area and shed heat better than a single 21700.
21700 are cheaper $/Wh, which is the primary reason for companies switching to them. Cost is the entire reason the 21700 format exists – reducing the cost of large batteries for automotive EV applications.
If/when Ego Tools start using 21700 cells the batteries will be compatible. Voltages and chemistries are all the same.
Chris
Do you have any articles or sources to back up your claims?
Everything I’ve read is the exact opposite of what you said.
21700 are the ones that have higher capacity and higher discharge rates. They (18650) also have LESS surface area (physically smaller) than the 21700.
Your reasoning doesn’t explain why tool manufacturers are switching to 21700. You say cost (and that may be a factor), but I would have to argue that power, runtime, and cooling are strong reasons and is something that is verifiable.
I don’t like protoolreviews . com because they don’t do legitimate reviews, but the linked article is fairly comprehensive on the matter.
https://www.protoolreviews.com/news/21700-vs-18650-behind-the-lithium-ion-battery-battles/48042/
B-Rad
“I don’t like protoolreviews.com because they don’t do legitimate reviews”
Hah, I’m glad I’m not the only one that sees their entire site as just Ad Copy fluff. You won’t find a power tool review on their entire site with less than 4/5 stars.
Matt J.
I believe he was pointing out that most 18650 battery packs can get more Wh/in³ than 21700 with current stable cell offerings due to packing density. There’s a lot of benefits to 21700, but the energy densities have mostly proven lower than originally hoped/marketed as (which is why Tesla has shifted away).
That said, I think EGO is stuck with the 18650s because of the way they designed their battery packs. I don’t think they have room to accommodate that extra length of the 21700 and maybe not even the extra girth (or at least not easily). Their pack shape was really designed around the stacking of the 18650s which was nice, but potentially limiting.
Michael Mueller
I’m pretty sure the EGO 10ah 5600T gen3 battery uses a 14s3p pack of 2170 sized cells instead of a 14s4p pack of the same LG 25R 18650 cells used in their 7.5ah pack.
Aaron
Does HD sell anything Chervon anymore? Seems like TTI and Chervon have chosen orange and blue with SBD splitting the difference.
MattJ
Doesn’t look like it. Their website doesn’t even have any Skilsaw listings, which is a pretty big player to leave out.
Lance
With HD’s house brand (Ryobi) already pushing into the electric riding mower category (lead acid batteries), it’s clear HD wasn’t holding Ryobi back and likely sees higher profit margins with them over Ego. Add to that the pressure from Milwaukee and DeWalt entering the battery OPE space, it’s not much of a stretch to think HD was likely holding Ego down. Heck, Ego can design amazing tools, but if their largest retail partner won’t commit to selling them they’re non-starters.
I think a partnership with Lowe’s could do a lot of good for Ego. I’ve often felt HD did a questionable job of representing and promoting Ego tools. Maybe Lowe’s will do better.
Tom King
Selling is one thing, but the repairs were almost non existing. Send your mower off for 6 weeks in the middle of the summer. 90 day warranty at HD, unless you had a HD CC. Lowes always had a better warranty, in this area..
OPE
Joe S
“Exclusive nationwide home center” … I read that to mean Ace will continue to carry Ego.
That wording also seems to leave open the possibility of an online retailer (ie Amazon) or even a regional home center (ie Menards) to eventually carry Ego products. I most definitely could be reading into that too much but the language seems awfully specific.
Kevin
What happens to the kobalt line in lowes?
Matt J.
My first thought as well. My guess is this is the end of the Greenworks deal for Kobalt 40v and 80v. I’d expect to see the Greenworks 60v gone from what stores may still have it as well (mine clearanced most of it out a few months ago, but there are still a few mowers and string trimmers). Hopefully they still support the platform with batteries and such for those who’ve invested in it.
Toolfreak
Probably nothing? I would expect Lowe’s to keep the Kobalt 24V cordless lawn tools for sure, since that goes with their other 24V power tools.
The Kobalt 40V and 80V I’m less sure of, since they might cross over some with the EGO line, but who knows, Lowe’s might carry both the Kobalt and the EGO and drop just the Greenworks stuff instead.
Ziggo
Kobalt 24V are made by Chervon.
Plaingrain
Home Depot also discontinued the Troybilt garden tiller(the largest model- Horse). Never heard why.
Matt
I too wonder what this means for Kobalt and Craftsman as well. It seems Lowe’s is slowly liquidating all Craftsman V20 stuff and the V60 line has already been discontinued. SBD seems to be doing to Craftsman what they did to PC.
MattJ
Are you just talking about the outdoor stuff? Or are you seeing liquidations on construction tools like saws, drills, drivers etc. as well? Craftsman power tools still seem to be the largest display at my Lowes.
Kent
Why would anybody buy Craftsman or Kobalt and not understand that they are going to throw it away in a few years when the batteries die?
rob
This is just like any other major supplier/distributor/national retailer-it comes down to each side wanting certain things in their deal. My guess is their current deal had run out and each side was looking for certain things. Now though Chervon has the power they didn’t have before with Ego, it’s become a national brand other retailers wanted a piece of. My guess is the entire program went out for bid and they waited to see who would offer the best deal (ie marketing dollars, advertising, in store promos, markup). Most major national brands do this in all retail segments and you see national retailers either push them to make a inhouse branded item or give them exclusive national rights to the brand. The other thing I’d note, is we are not always sure of the behind the scenes issues that arrive, maybe Ego wasn’t happy with the push for Ryobi /HD and their battery line or maybe there’s a big launch to come in a few months with HD and another battery OPE brand.
Shawn
I’ve read that Kobalt 80V are re-branded Greenworks products. I’m not sure how EGO and Greenworks OPE compare head-to-head, but I suspect that EGO has some advantages in most cases except for battery voltage.
EGO 56V batteries are a minimum of 14 cells (14*4V=56V).
Greenworks/Kobalt 80V batteries are a minimum of 20 cells (20*4v=80V).
I wonder what Lowes will do in terms of recommending their house-brand Kobalt/Greenworks versus EGO?
Matt J.
My neighbor has the EGO stuff, I have 80v Kobalt. His mower is a bit quieter, but I get way more cut per battery. Build quality is also nicer on the Kobalt IMO.
80v chainsaw blows the EGO out of the water, especially if you switch to a full chisel chain (not sure if that’s an option on the EGO). I’ve felled trees with my Kobalt, but I wouldn’t want to do much more than trim with the EGo (although it’s lighter and better balanced).
String trimmer and blower I’d go EGO all day. The carbon fiber shafted EGO is a beautiful thing to use. The Kobalt is fine, but pretty bare bones. The EGO blower is way more comfortable and more powerful than the Kobalt (there is a better blower and a backpack blower that I’ve not tried).
All in all, it seems like EGO is the high end luxury homeowner brand while Kobalt/Greenworks is sort of in this weird budget prosumer battery OPE niche. It’s great stuff, but I got mine because I got the mower for a song originally (when they discontinued the first gen, which then was replaced under warranty with the 2nd gen) and I’ve been super happy with it (especially the chainsaw), but if it were similar money I’d probably go EGO.
Shawn
Matt J. wrote “My neighbor has the EGO stuff, I have 80v Kobalt. His mower is a bit quieter, but I get way more cut per battery.”
How Amp-Hours for your Kobalt 80V battery?
How Amp-Hours for your neighbor’s EGO 56V battery?
Shawn
Meant to ask:
How many Amp-Hours for your Kobalt 80V battery?
How many Amp-Hours for your neighbor’s EGO 56V battery?
Matt J.
Mine’s a 5ah. I believe his the 5ah as well, but I’m less certain. I also have a couple fo 2.5ah and one 2ah ones that are more than enough for most of the handheld tools (except maybe fall leaf cleanup time).
Shawn
I appreciate your comparison. If they are both 5Ah batteries, then your Kobalt 80V battery would have 1.43 times the power of the EGO 56V (nominally). So, you would have 43% more runtime.
Kobalt 80V: 360 Watt-hours (72 nominal voltage * 5Ah)
EGO 56V: 252 Watt-hours (50.4 nominal voltage * 5Ah)
1.43 = 360/252
Nominal voltage = number of cells * 3.6v per cell.
Matt J.
Only if the motors use the same amount of power. You’re assuming all else is equal, but there’s really no way to tell the actual difference. Heat dissipation, efficiency of auto-adjusting speeds, drivetrain loss, etc. will all have an effect as well. You’re correct in stating that there’s a greater theoretical runtime, but there’s way more that goes into it than that. That said, yes…80v should (and does) run longer. I think in other tools the extra voltage is put more into power than efficiency and that’s the real benefit.
Shawn
Yes, I was assuming all else was equal with the mowers and the yards. I’m assuming that the lawns are equal in terms of the energy it takes to cut the grass, yards are both flat, and so on.
Nathan
Home depot has pretty strong ties to TTI at the moment – note their carriage of the milwaukee OPE while replacing the Echo 58V OPE (also made by TTI). All the Ryobi OPE, etc.
Does this mean that Home Depot will be getting more Greenworks braded items?
Does it also mean that Lowe’s will now remove or stop selling the Kobalt OPE? I’ve wondered about that for quite some time.
Curious news. Wonder if perhaps SBD is looking to remove Craftsman OPE.
Toolfreak
This makes way more sense with the Lowe’s/Kobalt/Chervon relationship than the EGO stuff being the only Chervon stuff at HD.
I expect this means good things for the Lowe’s/Chervon business relationship in the future, probably some multi-year agreement but even more likely they won’t go back to HD again.
John
They need to get their tools made in the USA. Not China. I do own three of their tools though, and I am satisfied
Mike
Lowe’s will end up regretting this decision. Their customer complaints will rise substantially. Hopefully they have some safeguards in their contract. Chervon has the worst customer service of any company I’ve dealt with. I was an early adopter of the Ego products. The shields on their weed trimmers were too small. The batteries failed in the first season and to top it off their customer service is rude. That is of course when you can reach someone in the phone. I would never invest any money in their products anymore.
Mike
Tim W
If “exclusive” means there won’t be anyplace online and ACE stores will stop carrying them, I need to hurry up and buy more batteries! When the first local Home Depot opened my wife feared I would move into it, although in recent years I have had some gripes (limited EGO selection) they are still 100 times better than going to Lowe’s.
The first EGO I bought was the blower to replace my corded Toro blower/vacuum and that thing is awesome. Next I bought the string trimmer (carbon fiber shaft!) to replace my corded Edge Hog (Black & Decker?) which had caught fire trimming some tall grass a couples years earlier. Then came the edger because I no longer had the Edge Hog, but it is the 2 piece so I also bought the string trimmer head and then took the old trimmer to my mom’s (all my dads old tools are gas and the vibrations make my arms numb). I have to say the carbon fiber 1 piece trimmer is way better than the 2 piece non-carbon fiber. So then came the snowblower since my Craftsman gas one was 20 years old and badly needs a tuneup. I do have 2 minor complaints with this one, you have to push it through the snow where a gas one pulls itself, and it gets stuck on every tiny imperfection in the pavement. And finally the mower, so light and easy to push glad my wife (fathers day) didn’t waste the extra hundred bucks for self-propelled. No more gas can in my garage!
Not that Home Depot is the only store I use but if this agreement really is “exclusive” with Lowe’s and lasts longer than my tools/batteries I will be finding another brand. Never going back to gas though!
Stuart
Given the language, I think Ace is exempt from the deal.
John Feltz
If Lowes is going to be exclusive why aren’t they stocking Ego string trimmer in their stores. Only place I can find them is at HD.
Garej
Probably won’t be showing up til after Christmas store resets.
John Feltz
Thanks for your input. At least now I have a target date to buy the rest of my Ego attachments. I would rather wait for Lowes then to go elsewhere. Thanks again. John Feltz