Lithium Ion battery prices for cordless tools and OPE

[Snagglefoot]

It looks to me that brand name batteries for cordless tools are no longer going down in price. My Dewalt 20 V 5 AH battery is now 5 years old and still works great on my grass trimmer and reciprocating saw. However, when I priced a 2nd one I found two years ago they were $75 USD. Today I couldn’t find one any cheaper but instead I found a 6 AH one for $92 which is in line with the extra 1.0 AH but is not cheaper per AH. I suspect inflation has brought an end to the downward movement in prices. Any other thoughts out there?

Per AH.

 

[Donald]

I found the single batteries expensive but the two packs end up being a better price especially during sales like Black Friday, maybe today as President's day. This was for Milwaukee M18 batteries at Home Depot.

I have yet to have any OEM Milwaukee M18 go bad. Aftermarket M18 yes and Ryobi OEM yes.

 

[skyactiv]

A huge problem with those batteries is that scrupulous sellers often sell them on Amazon and eBay.

Who on earth is Jeffs garage? Is it an authorized DeWalt seller? Is the battery fake, stolen? The battery shown is shipped by the seller, not Amazon.

 

[dnewton3]

I think this helps explain it ... This is a long video, but very much worth watching. Mills explains where we're at currently on the world stage of minerals development, and why it's not going to be any better anytime soon.

I will quote two lines from his presentation that will answer your question:
" ... but, if you cause metals prices to go up 200% to 300%, or 400%, or in lithium's case, 1000% ..." (bold my emphasis)
" Roughly 70%-80% of the cost of fabricating an electric battery today is in the purchase price of the materials. "


The bottom line is that supply/demand curve is not anywhere near balancing out on any of the major needed materials in the foreseeable future. The reason lithium-ion batteries are going up in price is that the push for "green" energy cannot be met at the most basic levels.

What I like about this presentation is that there's no policitcal agenda here; he's not pushing one view over another. Rather, this appears to be a very well researched man who knows the details and merely presents it in a straighforward (albiet lengthy) manner. I did a few random checks and the data seems credible.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

My advice if using Lithium-Ion batteries is to read the Owner's Manual.

Learn: Battery care
1) where to store them between uses .... (cool basement, NOT hot garage).
2) How to charge & store long term.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Here are Dewalt’s Instructions.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I placed my 5 year old Dewalt 5.0 AH on the charger for the first time in 4 months and it was still fully charged. It’s stored at 60 F. My 5.0 Waitley knockoff needed about 20 minutes on the charger to top off.

 

[wrcsixeight]

2 nights ago, I was waffling between buying a dewalt and ridgid drill.driver combo.

Saw that ridgid has 2 4 ah batteries deal for99$, and fedex is delivering my Ridgid combo today.

My makita batteries became nearly worthless about a year ago at about 10 years age. New authentic batteries more than a new drill driver combo, and the drill needed new brushes and had gear issues, so abandoned them both in the move

 

[Cujet]

I have a bunch of Dewalt 20V batteries. A few older 4Ah ones have lost some oomph, they still work fine for power tools but can not handle the blower for more than 30 seconds before slowing down markedly. I think they have a 2014 date, I will double check and report back if newer. The cells are very high quality inside. One of the plastic housings deteriorated and came apart, inside they were top shelf Samsung cells.

At this point, I'd say they have an 8 year life.

I purchased the $169 10AH one from Amazon for my blower. It's clearly a real Dewalt.

 

[JohnnyG]

Needed a new battery for my Black and Decker hedge trimmers. Pricing for a replacement battery was about $60.00. Went to WalMart, bought a new B&D electric drill which came with two batteries, a charger, and a carry bag, for $35.00. The batteries fit my hedge trimmers and work great.

 

[alarmguy]

Needed a new battery for my Black and Decker hedge trimmers. Pricing for a replacement battery was about $60.00. Went to WalMart, bought a new B&D electric drill which came with two batteries, a charger, and a carry bag, for $35.00. The batteries fit my hedge trimmers and work great.

Good thinking, yeah, big profits on replacement batteries. I threw away my B&D once a long time ago, bought a "Works" lawn edger, and after roughly 5 years I bought a new one for not much more than I could have replaced the two batteries that originally came with it.

 

[Snagglefoot]

An important thin is to know is how many AH the battery is rated for. I know first hand that Milwaukee and and Dewalt still market several capacities for the same battery configuration.

 

[Snagglefoot]

The real answer is to pick a brand name and stick with the batteries that came with the first few tools then buy “ tool only” specials.

I find the stories of the “ tool and battery” being cheaper than battery alone are usually low end tools. Here is is a 12 V Black and Deck vs a 20 V Dewalt. Some other actual examples would be good.