this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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Power tool batteries.
It's not quite what you're talking about because they're still brand-specific, but the batteries are a big part of why I went with Ryobi. They've done a really good job of sticking with their battery ecosystem IMO, and it's now kind of a big part of their marketing so I think they're going to stick with it for a while, at least for their regular 18v hand tools. If I ever come across some old blue Ryobi tools at a yard sale they should work just fine with the lithium batteries even though they were designed for NiCad batteries, and I'm pretty sure you can still get a dual chemistry charger that works for both kinds of battery.
I'm pretty sure that in the same time Ryobi has been around using using essentially the same batteries most of the big names are on their 2nd or 3rd battery standard.
Admittedly they haven't been perfect, they've done pretty well sticking with their 18v and 40v lines, but I think they've had a couple different standards for smaller, lower-powered tools that have come and gone, although I like what they've been doing with their newer USB lithium line so I hope that sticks around. I think they also had a riding mower battery that was only around for a couple years before they replaced it with a new incomparable one.
And I'm very much a DIY homeowner weekend warrior type, if I used my tools professionally I don't know that I'd want to depend on Ryobi, but they're more than adequate for what I need them for.
This factor was why I decided to use Bosch blue cordless. They haven't changed the battery interface so all the 18v tools are compatible and continue to be. Good to know about Ryobi.
The thing is, when you open up any of these batteries, they all have either standard lithium ion 18650 or 21700 cells and they are all nominally 3.7v/cell. In other words, they are standardised in every way except the interface, which just happens to fit one brand of tool.
I have an old Makita NiMH drill that I've converted to use the Bosch batteries. This 25 year old tool can continue to serve me because there's no such thing as a Bosch electron and that's what's so beautiful about the universal laws of physics.
After moving into a house, I decided to buy a small collection of power tools for household work. Batteries were a major consideration. I previously had a 12v DeWalt drill that served me well (still works too), and leaning on that, picked up a kit with a skilsaw, hammer drill, drill/driver, work light, oscillating tool, and a sawsall... all from the 20v line from DeWalt. Since then we added a hedge trimmer, string trimmer and electric mower, all using the same 20v system. We have a small fleet of batteries, which work with all of our tools.
The risk is if DeWalt decides that they're just going to abruptly stop selling the batteries between now and when we need replacements. If so, I'm sure we'll have several expensive options to pick from in order to continue to have tools. I don't think that will happen anytime soon, since all of the batteries we have are compatible with their flex volt thing, which they seem to be happily supporting across their entire ecosystem.
The next tool I'm looking at buying is an impact wrench for some light automotive work; the only power tool type thing I wish that they had, which they currently do not, is a snow blower. If they ever release one that takes the flex volt or 20v "Max" batteries, I'm going to jump at that.
Shoveling snow sucks.
Feels like a snowblower would need a pretty meaty power source, 20V might struggle to cut the mustard. I ended up going with a corded one because I couldn't face another noisy 2 stroke engine.
I'd be okay with them putting out a wired one, they're not foreign to making wired appliances. We have a wired shopvac type thing from DeWalt. It works great.