I found a couple of Litheli 20V cordless power tools on Amazon, and have never seen anything like them before.
The tools have very modern-looking aesthetics, and quite decent specs claims, but it’s the power source that shocked me.
This Litheli cordless drill, the impact driver shown above, and their other U20 cordless power tools, are powered by a customized power bank.
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It’s a power tool battery, but simplified into a power bank form factor.
The look of the tool is what caught my attention, and the details held it.
So, the battery just… slides in?
And you can just recharge it via USB-C. They seem to recommend a 45W power brick.
Litheli offers a couple of U20 battery options. This one, and optional add-on sold separately, is their 4Ah Super Battery Ultra, with multi-tab cells and smartphone connectivity via Bluetooth.
If you want a benchtop charger, they offer that too, as a separate accessory. The form factor seems really neat here too.
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Want a more portable charger? They have one of those too.
The cordless power tool system also includes a leaf blower.
I also saw as 2x20V cordless string trimmer.
Then there’s the power station, which features an internal battery and slots for two of the U20 power tool batteries.
Frankly speaking, I’m used to Amazon selling cheap no-name cordless power tools that have generic designs. That’s certainly not the case here.
There are a couple of cordless power tool brands today that built USB-C charging and power bank functionality into their battery packs.
What Litheli did is very different – they designed a power bank that can be used as a power tool battery.
I’m not convinced enough to buy it yet, as I prefer retail brands that undergo UL or NRTL safety testing.
Even so, I have to admit being impressed with what Litheli has done here.
The tools look really cool – especially the impact driver – and the power bank battery design, features, and form factor seem novel. It all looks well thought out, although that’s hard to sure about just from the images.
I will be keeping an eye on the Litheli U20 cordless power tool system with much excitement.
All that said, the prices seem very reasonable. There’s got to be a catch – right?
Here’s the full product family so far. We can see that there’s even a cordless snow blower. What’s that on the left?
Oh, it’s a cordless power-assist wagon that can handle slopes up to 10° with a load of up to 60 kg (~132 lbs).
Just when I thought I’ve seen it all, I found Litheli also make a U20 backpack refrigerator that’s powered with the same power bank as their cordless power tools.
It can operate as a refrigerator or freezer, with temps down to -4°F. They call it a fridge, and say it has a compressor.
Did Litheli really launch the world’s first tool battery-powered portable refrigerator?
Litheli says that their innovation is a “game changer in the tool battery industry.” From what I’m seeing here, I’d say that could be believable.
If I were starting off with the Litheli U20 cordless power tool system, it would probably be with the brushless impact driver, or maybe the drill.
MM
That power-assist wagon looks like a great idea. It appears to be one-wheel-drive?
Rob Ziemba
If you zoom in on that wheel, it looks like there’s a second wire coming out of it, maybe it goes into the frame and goes to the other wheel? I feel like one wheel drive would pull really hard to one side
A W
It looks like there’s a motor under the rear wheels that would power both rear wheels. My assumption is that the wire running near the front left wheel likely goes underneath the wagon to the rear motor.
MM
Right, we can see that motor. However, what’s confusing me is that the axle (?) coming out of the motor doesn’t align with the center of the wheel, plus the visible rear wheel looks like a caster.
It’s possible that it drives both rear wheels with a “portal axle” setup that just so happens to resemble casters though.
MM
I found another picture that shows it from the rear on this page. That “portal axle drive” which looks like casters appears to be correct.
https://litheli.com/products/litheli-electric-foldable-utility-camping
Apparently they also have a larger model which has two motors, one built into each rear wheel:
https://litheli.com/products/litheli-ewagon-w2-pro-the-ultimate-electric-camping-wagon
fred
The wagon does look interesting. I had fleeting looked at the Makita for our garden – but chocked on the price:
https://toolup.com/products/makita-xuc05z-36v-18v-x2-lxt-brushless-material-handling-dump-pipe-frame-tool-only
The wheels on the Litheli seem small. Small wheels usually translate into difficulty on uneven terrain. After over a decade of camping with the Scouts – we built carts with BMX or even full-sized bicycle wheels – having found that kids wagons and most garden carts to be lacking.
fred
The brand is new to me, but doing a quick trademark search – Zhejiang LiTHELi Technology Co., Ltd. has registered the trademark for much more beyond tools.
https://trademarks.justia.com/owners/zhejiang-litheli-technology-co-ltd-3638982/
Doug N
Makita has had portable refrigerator coolers with compressors for a few years. https://toolguyd.com/makita-18v-cooler-warmer/
TB
Just spotted a couple of their tools on sale at Rona’s website (Lowes in the US, I think) moments before navigating here. So they’re also carried by retail stores. Interesting lineup. Hopefully the quality is passable.