A reader wrote in, saying that they “noticed as of today, Lowe’s is no longer listing Flex tools online.”
I took a look, and sure enough Lowe’s has purged a majority of their Flex cordless power tool and accessory listings from their website, except for a couple of bundles that have now been labeled “in Store Only.”
Interestingly, Lowe’s does still has some Flex Stack Pack tool boxes listed in their online store.
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It’s become clear that Lowe’s has dropped Flex tools, although perhaps not yet completely.
This appears to be the end of Flex 24V cordless power tools and accessories at Lowe’s in the USA.
I don’t believe it’s the end of Flex. However, I also can’t see what kind of future they can have in the USA without Lowe’s or other major retailer support.
Flex seems to have been putting more energy into growing in Europe, but will that be enough to fuel innovation and expansion?
Flex started off as a Lowe’s exclusive and is now available at other retailers, such as Amazon.
Will that be enough to fuel innovation and expansion, even though we haven’t seen much from Flex these past 2 years?
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I wonder what will be next at Lowe’s – maybe Bosch’s 18V cordless power tool line will fill the void.
What’s next for Flex?
Robert
A shame to see Flex in this situation. They started off with so much promise.
Jared
My thoughts exactly. There was a lot to like when they launched.
processwrench
Seems troubling that all Cervon brands here in the USA seemed to have stalled out. Skil and Flex have been mentioned here often lately about discounts/clear out etc. And when is the last time you heard anything big out of Ego?
Dean
It seems like tool brands go to Lowe’s to die (sadly).
Jamie Lee Davis
Agreed
Andy
Ego continues releasing new tools, and updates to existing product types, every year, on both their consumer and pro lines. They even show some of these products on their website: https://egopowerplus.com/coming-soon/
They just recently came out with shop vacuums, pressure washer, dethatcher, backpack sprayer, riding mower, and a minibike.
They just debuted an 8ah battery with tabless cells for sale next year. That should be pretty cool for some of the bigger power consumers like the 765+ CFM leaf blowers, and two-stage snowblowers.
Rumors are that Ego is tentatively slated to release a leaf vacuum in the US in the fall of 2026. It’s been available overseas for a bit now.
Stuart
The mini bike was 2-1/2 years ago https://toolguyd.com/ego-mini-bike/ .
I haven’t heard of any Ego tabless cell battery yet. I’d like to see new dual stage snowblowers designed around the higher performance.
Big Richard
The BA4480X. It was at a German event a couple months ago and also has been showing up on retailer sites. The 20 minute charge time for a 8Ah battery is nuts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rdtbg3_Uwg (13:40)
https://ego-power-plus.de/products/ego-ba4480x-8-0ah-akku-fur-profis
Andy
https://youtu.be/9bm90917J88?t=557&si=oKY1nCvJWvo6mEqM
The video appears to be the UK market product releases, but I’ll be very surprised if that battery doesn’t make its way here at some point next year.
Lance
Ego BA4480T
They’re not advertising it as a tabless cell battery, curiously still referring to it as G3 like existing models, but it obviously uses a different cell format, likely 21700. User reviews point out how much more powerful it is compared to existing 3S packs.
Big Richard
BA4480T is standard tabbed cells, the BA4480X is the new tabless version.
Big Richard
https://egopowerplus.co.uk/node/6090
AP
Watched a video on the leaf vacuum. It was in the UK but I don’t know where else it has been released. I also heard it’s coming in 2026. Been waiting for them to come out with one of those.
Rob K
Ego seems to be hitting pretty big with snow removal equipment at the moment. Other than that, even Kobalt 24v doesn’t seem to be being pushed very much.
Michael F
I think the power tool market in general is in consolidation. Tradesmen especially had a lot of reasons to upgrade tools over the past few years but I’m questioning if that trend continues. If you already have a nice new set of power tools bought within the past 5 years – is there really a compelling reason to upgrade? Milwaukee has all but won the power tool wars in North America and every truck I see is full of red. I suspect we will see the continued contraction of the market until anything but DeWalt, Milwaukee, and Roybi is only carried at specialty stores.
ElectroAtletico
Harbor Freight/Hercules has joined the thread
Nathan
No they havent
Jack D
I’d say if they haven’t yet, they will. Legacy brands like Skil and Craftsman are withering on the vine for DIY homeowners, and Harbor Freight is only expanding its store space and influence.
They’re pretty much the new Sears stores, when it comes to tools, with the same easy return/replacement policy.
ElectroAtletico
Craftsman, Ideal, Flex, Toughbuilt, Bosch, Metabo…….LOWE’S – where tool companies go to die.
Will
Maybe adding dewalt 12v soon 🙁
ColeTrain
Lowe’s has 12v DeWalt for years
Ken
I think Lowe’s has removed all listings for power tools but retained listings for accessories, including batteries. The bundles showing power tools are only showing up in search results because they include an accessory in the bundle. If a local store has enough batteries in stock, they do show up in the search results (at least in my region).
I’ve observed that Lowe’s frequently pulls an active SKU from the website only to replace it with the exact same item under a different SKU. Sometimes this appears on the website as two different SKUs for the exact same item at the same time. So, I wouldn’t definitively interpret the fact that they have pulled active FLEX power tool SKUs from the website as evidence of FLEX being permanently unavailable from Lowe’s online. They could easily add the same products under different SKUs next month.
My uneducated read of the situation is that FLEX will continue to expand their lineup in NA. There are a number of new tools that show up on Chervon’s international websites (FLEX 18V and Devon 18V) that may be trivial to release as FLEX 24V tools. In some cases, they are already in black/grey stackpack branding, like the stackpack vacuum.
But maybe my optimism for FLEX is biased because I just bought a bunch of very cheap, high-quality tools with lifetime warranty 🙂
Saulac
On the flip side of the coin, Flex going away shows just how advanced or developed the power tool industry has become around the globe. Fact is an impressive system like Flex can be created in the US without much investment in R&D here. Whole ecosystem can be ordered from China. And what comes easy also goes easy.
Robert
The Lowe’s I’m in has Dewalt fan and radio and hit collections where Glex tools were before. Flex sign is all that remains.
David
FWIW, I worked at both HD and Lowes after I retired and came away from my time at Lowes dumbfounded. If ever a business made money in spite of itself, it’s Lowes.
I’m not a Flex devotee as I think much of their power tool lineup is bulky and heavy, but it seems on-brand for them to randomly jump to a new direction.
I could be generous and say they have a good reason behind this decision, but very likely that is not the case.
BMak
I asked about Flex earlier this week and was told that it would be available online only moving forward
Stuart
Lowe’s website says in-store only. Thus it looks like Flex is leaving Lowe’s completely.
Nathan
I never really saw much appeal to flex other than being the tool nobody heard of sold only at Lowe’s. They had a few heavy hitters but then you’d see ok it has more torque but it doesn’t work any better than the red yellow blue team. Or etc. It was cheaper than most yellow or red items but not much.
Ego and Skil on the other hand seem to be where chevon shines. Ego has a lot of cred in the ope market even partnering with John Deere named lawn mowers using 56v batteries. So who knows. Lowe’s is weird and I feel dirty when I go to one
Sinclaire
I’m sure Flex thought they’d be successful given the “max power over everything” ethos of the US market but clearly underestimated how tough it is to break into the cordless tool business
ColeTrain
Skil 12v will die from this or at least stall to nothing because of this. Skil 40v was in everyway better than Ryobi Ope and cheaper than kobalt. I bought 10 12v tools from skil and all are excellent and used regularly, some I like more than my M12 tools. Sadly the only good, cheap 12v tools are probably gone. 40v options in store are now limited to 2 choices. Damn you Lowe’s. I loved them always having new options but hate they kill them all off
ColeTrain
Skil 12v will die from this or at least stall to nothing because of this. Skil 40v was in everyway better than Ryobi Ope and cheaper than kobalt. I bought 10 12v tools from skil and all are excellent and used regularly, some I like more than my M12 tools. Sadly the only good, cheap 12v tools are probably gone. 40v options in store are now limited to 2 choices. I loved Lowe’s always having new options but hate they kill them all off
CMF
As usual, I find it too bad. I think Flex will survive but Lowes was a major retailer.
I don’t know If I posted this hear or elsewhere; or maybe it was in my dreams. I look at Greenworks, one of Ego’s main competitors, have handheld power tools. I never used one but generally hear they are not great.
Ego and Flex would make a great marriage, each keeps their name…but tie them together somehow. It would help both companies, especially if in years down the road the could share batteries on “some” of their tools.
I hope Flex survives and does well.
JM
I bought some Skil 12V clearance tools and the lady who opened the cage told me Skil and Flex were gone and they were bringing in more Kobalt tools. I go to Lowes because I can park anywhere because the parking lot is empty. There are 3 Home Depots within 5 miles of my house. I can’t imagine how Lowes can stay in business with no traffic.