Bosch 12V Starter Kit with L-Boxx

Bosch’s new SKC120-202L 12V Li-ion starter kit is an example of why I sometimes just don’t get marketing. It comes with one L-Boxx-1, a 12V charger, and two high capacity 12V Li-ion batteries, all for about $70. The street price for all of this separately is about $154, or $130 if you downgrade the 1.5Ah batteries to the older 1.3Ah version.

Includes:

• 2x high capacity 12V batteries (street price via Amazon)
• 12V battery charger (street price)
• L-Boxx 1 (street price)

I believe that the L-Boxx also comes with a half-sized insert to fit the charger and batteries, and another half-sized tray insert for general accessories.

Buy Now(via Amazon)

Amazon is running a Bosch Click & Go promo this month where you save an extra $20 off $100+ L-Boxx-related orders.

What’s the Purpose of the 12V Starter Kit?

Discovering this starter kit was somewhat of a surprise. There was no press release, no secret tip, no social media mention. I came across it on Amazon while checking out the products eligible for their $20 off $100+ L-Boxx Click & Go promo.

The reasoning behind the starter kit might seem obvious, but without any context it took me some searching and thought to figure out its purpose. A few short months ago there were two options for every Bosch 12V tool – you could buy a complete 2-battery and charger kit, or you could buy a bare tool if you already had kit components. So where does this new starter kit fit in?

Although the purpose of this kit eluded me at first, it is now clear that Bosch intends it to be the perfect complement for their new 12V bare tool bundles, which come with L-Boxx-compatible trays. This means that you can create an L-Boxx bundle for any of the 7 bare tool options that come with exact-fit insert tray.

Instead of 7 bare tool options and 7 L-Boxx options, Bosch only has to distribute 7 bare tool options and a single starter kit. This is assuming that they discontinue distribution of bare tools without included insert trays. If you also consider the L-Boxx bundle option for the PS31 drill/driver – presumably Bosch’s most popular 12V offering – this means 9 SKUs instead of 14.

Right now seems to be a transitional period, which muddies things up a bit. The situation should be clearer in a couple of months when we’ll see which kits and bare tool options have vanished from the market, if any. It definitely looks like Bosch will continue to market their 12V (and 18V) kits and add-ons in support around their L-Boxx modular storage system.

Bare 12V Tools with Trays (via Amazon)

Now all we need are separate insert trays and lots of new and current Bosch 12V and L-Boxx owners will be even happier.

The starter kit likely comes with two insert trays – one to hold the charger and batteries and another for general accessories. I hope it comes with an insert that can accommodate a PS21/PS31/PS41 plus charger and spare battery, as shown on the left in this image. It’s available overseas as model 2 608 438 003, and inclusion with the US 12V starter kit would allow users to create a custom 2-tool combo in a single L-Boxx.

There’s also an insert tray style with spaces for a charger and batteries, as well as an open compartment for accessories. This type of insert would prevent users from creating a 2-tool combo in a single L-Boxx. I checked the product images for the bare tool bundles that come with insert trays, and none of them can accommodate a charger.

If the starter kit comes with a charger insert tray that cannot accommodate any of their drills or drivers, maybe we can convince Bosch to alter their decision.