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? Neat!
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.
A W
Good find! Those photos are helpful.
Jack S
I’d be first in-line to buy a power-assist wagon with balloon wheels for the beach.
Jason
Absolutely! Wish there was a more generic way to clamp or bolt on a simple assist to things like garden carts, strollers, or wagons. At this point we all have a ton of batteries already
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/
Stuart
You emailed me about them in 2022, when your local electric utility was promoting the brand’s cordless outdoor power tools along with a $30 rebate. That was my first introduction to the brand, excluding an email from 2020 about their outdoor tools.
At the time, I said they looked like another straight-to-Amazon brand with off-Amazon promotions to increase recognition and the perception of credibility, which seemed to be true for a lot of similar brands.
I ignored then until recently when the impact driver first caught my attention. When it caught my attention for maybe the third time yesterday, that’s when I noticed the battery form factor (again?) and felt compelled to immediately talk about it.
fred
How soon we forget ☺
I agree that the battery form-factor (if I had noticed it) might have piqued my curiosity
Stuart
They have different systems with different form factors. It took me a while to become aware at how different this system was.
Matt_T
And when you search the full company name it pulls up several patents. Some of which may cover this tool system.
https://patents.google.com/?assignee=Zhejiang+Litheli+Technology+Co+Ltd&oq=Zhejiang+Litheli+Technology+Co+Ltd
Doug N
Makita has had portable refrigerator coolers with compressors for a few years. https://toolguyd.com/makita-18v-cooler-warmer/
Stuart
There are a bunch of cordless coolers, but it’s never clear whether they have actual compressors and coils or other tech such as peltier.
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.
Bonnie
Actually sold by Rona? Or just an online marketplace seller?
Lowe’s sold off Rona in 2022, they’re owned by an American private equity firm now.
Jared
It does seem to be truly novel – and the tool lineup is pretty impressive. The market they’re targeting is clearly not construction crews – which is interesting in itself. I.e. they’re intentionally doing something different with the whole approach.
Luke
While I have no numbers to back this up, I have to imagine the casual homeowner market far exceeds the construction crew market.
Wayne R.
This approach might be the paradigm shift toward universal batteries.
Love to know more…
Stuart
Yes, and no. How many battery slots would a cordless vacuum or dust extractor require to get the same runtime or performance as with a 15-cell 12Ah tabless battery? Charging speeds vs USB-C aren’t up to professional expectations or demands yet. Drop rating?
This looks like a very convenient approach to consumer tools and products, but I think there are too many limits to extend the same to professional cordless power tools.
Consumer brands have been moving towards USB-C recharged power tool batteries. We can look to Skil https://toolguyd.com/lowes-skil-tool-deals-holiday-2024/ and Workpro https://toolguyd.com/amazon-workprox-usb-cordless-mini-chainsaw/ as examples of this.
So yes, I think that this is becoming a trend in the consumer space, although it’s not clear to me how the Litheli batteries are electrically and physically connecting to their tools.
I do NOT think this trend or form factor is likely to push into the professional tool industry.
Saulac
What standout for me is they moved the lock button to the tool. This should have been the way for all batterie packs. The design principle is you keep the accessories/things that get swapped out as simple as possible. Too bad that they decided to use enclosed receptacle, which would limit larger batteries. Curious why. The slots on the sides and the indent on top alone should secure the battery
Bonnie
The lock button being on the battery is ergonomically easier because you’re left holding the battery by the locking mechanism. Putting the locking tab on the base of the tool isn’t typically where you’re going to want to hold it during switch-out. Litheli did seem to think this out though by fully encasing the power pack so you can securely press the button while having your hand wrapped around the base.
Also having a mechanical wear item on the battery makes sense, as a tool should be expected to last several times longer than the battery itself when under heavy use. The USB designers learned this lesson during the mini/micro-USB days, moving the flexible/clip part of the port onto the male end/cord instead of inside the device where a failure was a much larger problem.
I do think the pod-style batteries were a little easier to grab the locking tabs than the slide-out style.
Mike
I think the cool thing here is the power bank. How many people need/use power banks to keep their phones and tablets working off grid? How many of those folks also need some cool tools to use around the house? Instead of getting people into the ecosystem with deals on tool and battery kits, they’re selling a power bank and – oh, yeah! – you need a wagon with that? Some of the specs are ridiculously small: the 4Ah battery will charge a laptop 0.8 times, the 13″ mower will mow up to 1300 square feet (that’s a 36′ square yard), so you’re gonna need more batteries than tools. But they have a snow shovel!
Bonnie
I like the idea, and the willingness to seemingly commit to a unique form factor. Seems well-suited for homeowners/DIY types, especially with a somewhat more techy aesthetic versus the gaudy colors of most power tool brands.
Power delivery should be perfectly adequate for most basic tools like the drill and impact, and they were smart to go dual-pack for the outdoor stuff.
I have some doubts about that chainsaw though…
Rog
This is a cool idea!
EBT
The trimmer hand image looks like AI slop. The fingernails are … they don’t look normal. Nor the wrinkles at the joints..like someone really old. And 3D renderings.