Why Did DeWalt Discontinue 18V Batteries?

There is a DeWalt power tool for basically any home or work site need, but you may have noticed that none of them have 18V NiCad batteries anymore. DeWalt announced in 2021 that they would no longer be making power tools that use an 18V battery anymore, with the 18V XRP lithium-ion battery (DC9180) discontinued that fall and the DC9096 and DC9096S becoming available until March 2022. This is because DeWalt was permanently switching to the 20V Max system, which utilizes 20V max Li-ion batteries in all of their new popular power tools. 

At the time of the switchover, DeWalt told customers that they could use an 18V to 20V adapter (DCA1820), which would allow their older 18V tools to still work with the new 20V batteries. DeWalt also suggested utilizing its Factory Service Trade-Up Program, which no longer appears on the company's Support page. At the time of the switchover a few years back, however, customers could trade an existing 18V tool to get the equivalent 20V product at a discount.

A lot of power tool enthusiasts claim that the DeWalt 20V Max tools have "more power" than 18V tools, but this is actually not the case. The batteries are more or less the same despite the higher number making it sound more tantalizing. So why did DeWalt bother making all their customers trade in old power tools? DeWalt explained that the permanent switchover would avoid "confusion" among customers. 

DeWalt initially announced the 20V Max power tool system in 2011, but customers were still able to purchase 18V power tools up until they were discontinued in 2021 (when DeWalt finally felt there was no further desire for 18V tools). At this point, DeWalt welcomed customers to make the change to 20V power tools, which also had an updated design. On top of that, "20V Max" just sounds better than "18V." 

DeWalt likely figured that the higher number and use of the term "max" would lead customers to believe that the power tools had higher capacity batteries with more power. However, "20VMax" comes from the battery's maximum off-the-charger voltage, while "18V" represents the battery's normal voltage. Apparently, only the United States switched over to the new name. In Europe, the new cordless tools were called "18V XR" instead, with the "XR" standing for "extreme runtime." This is due to other countries' advertising regulations, like Europe banning "misleading" practices. The United States' version of the 20V Max does not have "two more volts" – the batteries are both the same.