DeWALT is launching a new 20V Max* PowerStack 5Ah battery!
The new DeWALT PowerStack 5Ah battery, DCBP520, features pouch cell technology, and is compatible with all of the brand’s 20V Max* cordless power tools and chargers.
The battery was previously announced in Europe, and has now officially been announced in the USA.
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As with the compact battery that launched last year, the new DeWALT PowerStack 5Ah battery offers numerous advantages over existing options.
It is described as delivering The Next Dimension in Power.
Compared to DeWALT batteries 5Ah or less, the PowerStack 5Ah battery delivers:
50% more power – “compared to DeWALT DCB205 battery, not in application”
50% more work per charge – “based on usable energy vs. DeWALT DCB205 battery, not in application”
2X lifespan – “based on charge cycles vs. DeWALT DCB205 battery”
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The Li-ion pouch cells used in the 5Ah battery pack have lower internal resistance compared to the cylindrical battery cells found in traditional 10-cell 3Ah, 4Ah, and 5Ah battery packs.
This means that the PowerStack 5Ah battery runs cooler, allowing for greater power delivery.
The new battery is an expansion of the PowerStack line, and was developed with power and efficiency in mind.
DeWALT has expressed that:
This battery can tackle more demanding construction applications compared to the 1.7Ah.
They have also said:
PowerStack batteries have been developed to make more power available to whichever tool they are paired with.
The battery can be used with all DeWALT 20V Max* batteries and chargers.
DeWALT PowerStack 5Ah Battery Pricing & Availability
DCBP520 (Single Battery) – $229
DCBP20C (Starter Kit) – $289
DCBP20-2 (2-Pack) – $349
ETA: The new battery will be launching at DeWALT tool dealers in the USA in December 2022.
*Maximum initial battery voltage (measured without a workload) is 20 volts. Nominal voltage is 18.
Big Richard
Definitely using it with this: https://www.dewalt.com/product/dccs623b/20v-max-8-brushless-cordless-pruning-chainsaw-tool-only?tid=
Also you say it is a similar footprint to the 6Ah and 8Ah batteries with a much shorter height, perhaps a better way to look at it is that it has a similar footprint to the 3Ah and 4Ah compact batteries with only a slightly taller height? Tomato tomato.
Hammerstump
Whoa, where did that pruning saw come from and when’s it going to hit stores? I need that thing, like yesterday.
Big Richard
Rumors have been around a while and I mentioned it a couple weeks ago in a different post, but it first showed up on their website in the last couple days. Release is supposed to be early October.
Franck B.
I need it now… was going to go for a Kobalt 24v chainsaw and use a smaller bar, but I’d probably be happier with this. Or both.
Thanks for the tip!
Stuart
Perhaps, but there’s only one size of 6Ah and 8Ah batteries, whereas there are multiple sizes of 3Ah and 4Ah batteries.
We also don’t know if it will be comparable to or taller than the compact 3Ah and 4Ah batteries.
Big Richard
Good point and agreed, I was just thinking that this is meant to be more of a compact battery, so compare it to other compact batteries. Saying it is smaller than the 6Ah/8Ah doesn’t do it much justice, as the current 10 cell 5Ah is smaller than the 6Ah/8Ah as well. Like I said, tomato tomato.
MM
Agreed on both counts! I had been kicking around the idea of picking up a M12 Hatchet to keep on hand while feeding the chipper, that Dewalt pruning saw seems like it would be even better.
The 5ah powerstacks have been much anticipated. Only question remaining is what will they cost?
Big Richard
The original leak had pricing at $179 each or $229 for a 2pk. All battery prices seem to have gone up in the past year, so I’m thinking it could be more like $199 each or $249 a 2pk, but that is purely speculative.
afidel
Holy heck, cells are around $90/kWh at wholesale right now and this is .024 kWh so their markup on that 2 pack is nearly 500x. Sure there’s some cost for the packaging, assembly, and distribution but these things are apparently a license to print money.
Nyall
I’ll wait to see what kits this comes in. I’m willing to sell of tools to get better deals on batteries.
Bob Adkins
Won’t get a pouch just to have a pouch, it has to be better in a couple of ways.
Pouch batteries are normally cheaper than cylindrical batteries. If it is, I’ll buy one. If higher, I’ll get another 4ah compact which is a sweet spot for power/size/price.
Lyle
Wow, I’m buying this for sure. I already have the 12”, but this would be more “handy”. Also gonna be buying a bunch of whatever promo packages Dewalt puts together to get these new batteries into the field. Also looking forward to a FlexVolt version.
John+Fal
Agreed Flexvolt version is needed dewalt.
Steve
About time, but Q4 was expected. Finally a high output PowerStack battery in a usable capacity.
Jared
I expect this to be the true workhorse battery in the lineup for the next few years. Not too heavy, but a lot more usable than the first Powerstack due to the higher capacity.
Now we just need a Flexvolt Powerstack. 😃
John+Fal
We want Flexvolt powerstack!!! We need Flexvolt powerstack !!! 🙌
Kingsley
It’s good that it is wider, more stable in tall tools or in the DCL050 lantern light.
Collin
Good to see DeWalt and Flex leading the charge into a brave new world of pouch batteries.
Franck B.
I was hoping for smaller foot print… so that tool angles could be increased in close quarters. I guess the 1.7Ah still has some benefit.
Now a FlexVolt version has to come soon.
Stuart
I don’t know about that.
The PowerStack battery has 5 cells. A FlexVolt battery would require 15, and it would have to use new switching technology as well.
A battery like this requires a lot of R&D. A FlexVolt battery would require a LOT more R&D. I would bet it’s NOT coming soon.
Franck B.
That was “has to” as in “I need it”, not as in “I have expectation of its imminent release”. I expect nothing to come from SBD quickly.
🙁
New switching technology would be welcome anyhow, the mechanical method has seen some sketchiness in my crews, and pouch batteries and new form factor would allow for small mechanical switches with SCSs or some other high current solid state switch.
Collin
What do you mean by sketchiness with regard to the voltage switching?
Has the switching been faulty and burned up some tools?
Franck B.
We were an early adopter of a lot of FlexVolt and several batteries (well used, no doubt) stopped working in 60v tools but would still operate 20v tools. All of the ones taken to the service center so far have been replaced (we still have a few). I haven’t done my own post mortem to be sure what’s going on.
While our stuff gets pretty dirty in general, I would expect DeWalt to operate in those conditions since their marketing photos now show pretty dirty tools, and that sets my expectations.
MoogleMan3
Same thing I was hoping for; still compact, but a bit taller than the 1.7. Maybe we can hope for a compact 3.0 eventually…
Franck B.
Also… it’s not on Screwfix (UK dealer). They were running a big PowerStack promo with a competition (drill some holes, take the battery off and put it through the hole, then reattach it and screw some lags). I thought they would have the 5.0Ah straight away.
Droid
Does it have a secondary rail or what is that thing sticking out the side just in front of the normal sliders?
Big Richard
I was curious about that as well, the little knobs or tabs on the top of the battery near the release button. None of their other 18v/20v batteries have anything like that, including the previous PowerStack. They are almost reminiscent of the winged tabs on the 15Ah FlexVolt battery, as you said a secondary rail.
Collin
Maybe I’m just not observant but it really seems like all of Milwaukee’s batteries have pretty much identical casings, save for the size. No special features on even the heaviest and bulkiest.
I just took a quick glance at an old 5.0 and 12.0 and they don’t seem to have any of topological differences you point out among the various DeWalt packs.
Stuart
I noticed it too and have been calling them horns.
But, they are NOT anything like what you see on the 15Ah battery.
https://toolguyd.com/dewalt-dcb615-15ah-battery-cordless-power-tool-connection/
Looking at how they line up with the sliding-connection groove, this structural feature looks similar to what is found on the 20V Max 8Ah or FlexVolt 12Ah batteries. I’d say it’s a structural rest for certain tools or chargers. Honestly, I’ve never give it much thought until now.
The added structural features on the 15Ah battery is positioned well above the sliding-lock groove.
Take a look at the 8Ah battery – https://toolguyd.com/dewalt-20v-8ah-cordless-power-tool-battery-dcb208/ . It has something similar, but with a lot more material. The PowerStack has just horns (tabs?) without the fillet-type material below it.
Bonnie
My guess would be some additional impact/drop protection. That has the look of something they added into the design after testing. Could be they found a tendency for something to break/rupture in that spot if something got dropped on it or it hit at a certain angle. Notably it’s in the spot where the battery isn’t shadowed by the tool connection.
The 8ah “gusset” looks like it might be a reinforcement of the case to prevent cracking along that stress-point between the tool connection and the weight of the cells.
For the 15ah I think your call of a stronger connection to the tool sounds right.
Nyall
I wonder if there will be any attachments, so that the battery doesn’t fall to the ground when working at heights? possibly a bit holder connection point? My 9ah flexvolts have some bits of exposed aluminum, which I hear is for heat dissipation. Maybe there’s something like that between the wings.
Franck B.
Dewalt already sells tether-ready batteries with separate part numbers. I haven’t purchased any as it was pretty simple to attach our standard tether system leashes to all our non-ready tools and accessories.
(I used to buy tether-ready wrenches which were basically just a spring steel loop forced over the wrench handle, with a short leash. They cost twice as much. I stopped doing that.)
Steve
They are right in the way if you tried to put it in the 18V to 20V adapter, they probably don’t want you using it on that.
https://www.dewalt.com/product/dca1820/18v-20v-adapter
John
It looks big on the grinder. Probably will sit this one out unless they are gna sell them 2 for $159 but they’ll probably be like $299 for 2
Doug
Strange that we get these first in the UK. We still don’t have the 6AH, 8AH or 10AH 18v packs here despite them being available in America for several years.
MM
I find it curious how the North American and the UK product lines differ too. Some of it makes sense, like the Alligator saw–that’s really a specialist tool for cutting poroton block and that doesn’t get used much in NA so I can see why they don’t sell that tool here. But not carrying those 18V packs in the UK makes no sense at all. A few months back when the DCS438 multi-cutter saw came out that there were combo kits available in the UK with Powerstack 1.7 batteries. We got the tool in NA but not kitted with Powerstacks. There’s also the ongoing question of why they offer a 10″ miter saw in Europe and Australia but not in NA.
Big Richard
Still mad they don’t offer the 10″ 60v miter saw here. At least we are getting the new 60v 12″, looks a bit more compact than the current 120v 12″ beast.
John+Fal
Yeah, seems Dewalt neglects Flexvolt for some crazy reason?
So many cool things could have been made including a stand alone 60v that just fits Flexvolt tools. Dewalt SBD are you listening ??
MM
The 10″ miter saw is not a tool that I have a use for so I don’t have a dog in the fight so to speak, but given how often I hear people talking about how they wish they had one it is very very odd they don’t sell it here. How hard can it possibly be; the R&D is done, the tooling already exists, and it’s obvious there are customers asking for the product?!
Franck B.
If you’re going to the show at Farnborough this weekend, you can get 10+% off anything ordered there… Dewalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, Makita etc.
This battery does not appear orderable yet though.
Robert
Too bad it’s not 10% off Rafael’s, Grippens, F-35s.
Franck B.
I think there were some deals on MAX8s and MAX10s happening.
Roger
Basing on the first poster, the PS-5 is as wide as but taller than a 21700-4. However, shorter than a 21700-6.
I like the new button design, but what is that wing at the front? Like a spoiler on a car? A formfactor limiter? A formfactor adaptation like the 15AH?
Phil
It’s to have leverage to press down on smaller batteries that are also tighter fitting… so they don’t vibrate.
Steve
I found a German DeWalt spec sheet that lists the dimensions as: 13.0 X 8.5 X 6.5 cm. That’s 5.12” X 3.35” X 2.56” in American.
Big Richard
And the compact 21700 based 3Ah/4Ah are roughly 5″ x 3.25″ x 2″. So it is very similarly sized, more runtime, and likely around 2x the power (assuming 75A based on the claim it is 50% more powerful than the DCB205 vs. 35A). Nice.
Steve
I just measured a DCB240 with a pair of calipers. I get 5.14” X 3.32 X 2.18”. My guess is they used the same package. Why reinvent the wheel. The variations can be from conversion from English to metric, variations in the molded parts, and the points where measured from. Not an argument just my $0.02
Franck B.
Well to maximize compatibility with some devices that limit the battery size, Dewalt would probably make the battery dimensions the biggest they could be and still fit the old devices. There probably is not a single piece of plastic that is carried over from the old batteries, so everything is new but it’s not “reinventing the wheel” because “the wheel” wasn’t suitable for the new application.
Of course, they’ve increased that size several times and have created incompatibility with some tools, and retrofit kits for others. The most widespread one being that old belt hooks had to be upgraded to make clearance for new batteries.
Steve
I never said they were reusing the DCB240 housing s. It is plainly evident that every piece of it is new. None of the other DeWalt batteries have the “horns” that this one has, just like the smaller powerstack the looks are distinctive compared to other batteries. Not reinventing the wheel referred to using the same footprint for the reasons you describe regarding compatibility.
Franck B.
Um, you’re saying the new battery has “horns”. So… it’s not the same package, even though you said it is.
Maybe your definition of package is different than my understanding. For instance, LGA1156 and LGA1155 Intel chips use a BGA package, but it’s not the same package, yet it’s the same “package dimensions”.
Sorry if I misunderstood your intent, and thanks for clarifying.
Kingsley
Have you got a link to that German spec sheet, I can’t seem to find it? With those measurements it makes it taller and wider than the compact 4ah.
I was hoping it would be overall smaller for using with the DCB094K USB-C adapter and my laptop. I currently use the compact 4ah as it’s nice and slim and fits in my laptop bag.
Steve
https://pim-documents.sf.craft.supply/Lieferanten_Assets/988181_DeWalt_direkt/DCBP518H2-XJ_02.docx
Tech
Since 1.7 ah powerstack is equal to 5ah in Max power, is this 5ah even better? Could it be on par with a 10ah?
Stuart
The claim so far is that this delivers 50% more power than 5Ah and lower capacity batteries, and so yes – I think it’s intended to compare to the power output of Dewalt’s larger form factor batteries.
Big Richard
Correct. the 1.7Ah PowerStack and 10 cell 18650 5Ah are both good for around 800-900 Watts of power. Based on that 50% claim, this new 5Ah PowerStack should be good for around 1300 Watts, which is similar to the ~1250 Watts of the 10 cell 21700 6Ah/8Ah/10Ah, all while being the size of a 5 cell 21700 pack 3Ah/4Ah.
Franck B.
The 6Ah is often left off the list of higher output batteries when Dewalt touts that feature (such as for PowerDetect models). Is there a reason that you’re aware? I haven’t popped them open to compare yet, I would expect the higher output batteries to be present but I haven’t looked.
Craftsman also has a 15-cell battery using 18650s which I’ve seen somewhere listed as being higher output, but I don’t know that they have tools that will utilize the power.
Big Richard
My guess is simply that the 8Ah was released at the same time and bundled with Power Detect tools. It was the optimum combo of power, size, and runtime.
Since its release the 8Ah has had 21700 cells (Samsung 40T) and new tools were specifically designed to take advantage of those powerful cells. While the 6Ah was around before such tools were available. That may be why they are “forgotten”. They originally were released with Sanyo 20700 cells, later changed to 21700 (Samsung 30T), so they are every bit as capable as the 8Ah packs.
Craftman’s 9Ah battery is similar to Milwaukee’s, it uses 15 lower power hot running 18650 3000mAh cells. It is still probably good for around 1000 Watts, but heat dissipation is likely its weakness. And they have few if any tools that would need or greatly benefit from that extra juice.
Phil
I was getting math of 7.5 amph.
50 percent of a regular 5amph is 2.5
2.5 plus the 5 on PS equals 7.5
Plus it’s smaller and has double the life span. Makes it worth it.
Also this size means you can possibly phase out cells.
MM
That’s not quite correct. This new powerstack battery has 5.0 amp-hour capacity just like the older standard model DCB205 battery. The amount of energy in the battery is the same between the two. What has improved with the powerstack battery (other than the size) is its current capacity–how fast it can provide the energy it contains.
A totally different example could be to think of bank accounts. If we compared a “powerstack” bank account to a normal one they would both contain the same amount of money, but the “powerstack” one would have a 50% higher daily transaction limit. Same amount of cash in either account, but one will let us spend it faster.
For some tools this difference doesn’t matter, the new powerstack battery will perform the same as the old 5.0. But for tools which require more power the powerstack battery will provide better performance but no better runtime. In fact the run time might be worse if the tool is using more power, the same way your bank account might run out if you’re spending more $$$ each day.
Kingsley
Lots of websites in the UK now are listing this as the DeWalt DCBP518. DeWalt have done a promo video too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y5QUr7t5YA
One website has it listed at £130 GBP (in 20% UK Sales Tax), which is around $145 USD.
The US is normally a bit cheaper, so probably will be $100 + TAX
Phil
Seems dewalt could phase out cell form factor bats. If u can build this one for a grinder … should also work for the big 15 amph batteries.
Kirk
Looks about the same size as older 5ah battery, or maybe 4ah, which both last about half a day heavy use then charge up while on lunch. just a waste of money eye catcher imo. Still need a charger and multiple batteries. I’m not weak and lazy so a couple of ounces lighter? I don’t hit the gym like I used to so I don’t mind the weight of the tools and dropping down to brushless 20v tools n batteries after using 9ah flexvolt 7¼ worm saw and the gen2 sawzall feels like nothing anyway
eddie sky
Ok, so the prices are not terrible but still, a 2 pack shows that the batteries are $175 each, but a single is $54 more??? I’ll be the sucker for the 2pack and sell on to a neighbor for $229 … LOL…
I have a 5Ah that is getting low run time… a good place to start…but Dewalt..seriously, if these were priced at $189 each…
MM
Prices aren’t great but I’m sure they will be on sale soon enough. I picked up a couple of the 1.7 powerstacks shortly after they came on the market and I didn’t pay full price for them, I don’t think it will be too hard to find deals on these, at least if the existing 1.7s are anything to go by.
Stuart
Battery 2-packs are almost always more economical than single-packs. But if you only need one battery, one will cost less than two.
Lyle
The best deals for batteries are almost always when they come with tools. I currently have 10 AM f the 1.7Ah PowerStack batteries and I didn’t buy any of them directly. Just wait for a deal on a kit that includes them and sell everything else. Sometimes I pay about $20 a battery and sometimes they work out to be free. Black Friday often has really good deals for this purpose. Just 2 weeks ago I bought a kit from Lowes that was $299 for a hammer drill and an impact driver. It came with 2 PowerStack batteries and allowed me to select a free tool. I picked the reciprocating saw. If I sold each for $100 then the batteries, charger, and bag are free. As it turns out I’ll sell the drill and impactor for $75 each, the saw for $125, the charger for $15, and the bag for $5. So $5 for 2 1.7Ah PowerStack batteries. I’ll take that deal all day long.
Stuart
Usually, yes. That’s how I got my PowerStack 1.7Ah battery as well – with a 20V Max brushless jig saw purchase.
We don’t yet know if or when there might be any promotions featuring the 5Ah battery.
Timothy Hannah
I was using old 18v when one was stolen and older one is making noise. I need to up grade