Craftsman has developed a new lithium-ion battery platform to power their C3 19.2V cordless power tools. The new Extreme Core Performance (XCP) batteries offer more runtime and deliver more torque compared to Craftsman’s regular and hugely popular Ni-Cd batteries.
C3 XCP batteries will be available separately for those looking to upgrade their cordless kits, and will also be included as part of several new premium C3 tool kits.
As discussed earlier, Craftsman is also coming out with separate value-priced lithium ion batteries and cordless tool kits that lack some of the bells and whistles the XCP platform offers.
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Compact C3 XCP Li-ion Battery (35707)
- 1.5 Ah charge capacity
- Improved cold-weather performance compared
- Comfort overmold
- Battery fuel gauge
- MSRP: $70
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High-Capacity C3 XCP Li-ion Battery (35702)
- 4.0 Ah charge capacity
- Much greater runtime for power-hungry tools
- Battery fuel gauge
- MSRP: $100
Buy Now(via Sears)
Aellynh says
Interesting to see they went with a 1.5 and 4 amp hour capacity. A little surprised they didn’t just go with 2 and 4, maybe it has to do with the packaging or available cells. Still, glad to see a common brand like Craftsman push down 4 amp hour batteries to the masses.
Stuart says
The decision was probably based on price and cost considerations. Right now Milwaukee is the only brand that’s coming out with 2.0Ah batteries. (Info/Preview via ToolGuyd.) Some manufacturers have only recently made the switch from ~1.3Ah to 1.5Ah in their compact packs. It will likely be quite some time before 2.0Ah compact battery packs become more common.
Users needing more capacity than 1.5Ah packs can provide still have the option to upgrade to 4.0Ah battery packs. I discussed this in a post about next-gen battery predictions a few months ago, and my opinion hasn’t really changed much.
Anyhow, Craftsman still might release 2.0Ah battery packs down the road, presumably when it becomes more cost efficient to do so.
Keith says
The smaller XCP is a 2Ah battery, not 1.5Ah. The big 4Ah says 76Wh on the bottom while the smaller one says 38Wh. The non-XCP lithium C3 batteries are 24Wh.
Jerry says
I have older drills that came with Ni-cad batteries, which are in need of replacement. Will the old Ni-cad charger work with the XCP lithium C3 batteries or will a new charger be required?
Stuart says
A Li-ion charger is required.
Mike says
I just purchased a 19.2 Craftsman drill with a 1.5 Ah battery.
Because I like having a backup battery, I was wonderin. g if I should get another 1.5 or move up to the 4.0 Ah.
My question is this . . . will the 1.5 Ah give me the same amount of power as the 4.0 during the same time, say the first hour of use?
I would appreciate a helpful response.
Steve says
A 4.0 Ah battery will give you 266% longer use time (2.66). So that is a good way to go. I have 1 and it’s like nite & day.