Cordless Drill Battery Articles

Questions about drill batteries

What is the expected lifetime of a Li-Ion drill battery?

All cordless drill batteries are developed and tested according to the power tools quality standards. Therefore, drill Li-Ion batteries perform as well as drill NiMH/NiCd batteries. Compared to competitors' Li-Ion batteries, the drill Li-Ion batteries have up to 400% longer lifetime, which means less battery replacement costs for the user.

How can I tell whether the battery is ageing, as there is no memory effect anymore?

A significantly reduced work time after full charging indicates that the battery is used up and must be replaced.

Why do Li-Ion batteries have high power even at lower capacity?

The capacity values of nickel and Li-Ion cells overlap but Li-Ion cells have a higher energy density than conventional nickel cells. The reason for this is the higher voltage of a Li-Ion cell compared with a nickel cell.

What is the impact of storage on the battery's capacity?

If the battery is not used, there is a particularly small self-discharge of less than 3% per month. That's the reason why, even after months of storage, the Li-Ion battery in contrary to the nickel batteries still has sufficient capacity left to run a power tool.

How many hours can I work with my tool until the battery is empty?

It depends on many factors, particularly:

• the battery's size
• the type of tool, the kind of application,
• the material worked.

With the new Li-Ion tools from Bosch a craftsman can accomplish his daily workload with one battery charge.

Will there be Lithium-Ion batteries with more than 36 volts in future?

The 36V Li-Ion battery has a maximum voltage of 41V when fully charged. Manufacturers of handheld cordless power tools are not legally allowed to issue batteries which have a voltage of more than 42V without specific safety requirements. That is why theoretically a battery with more than 42V could be built but the safety elements would make the product too unhandy to work and too expensive.