Lowe’s Partnered with Greenworks for New Kobalt 24V Tools

As I recently posted about, a bunch of new Kobalt 24V Max cordless power tools and batteries have popped up on Lowe’s website.

Over the past few days I have seen multiple social media posts with strong evidence that Greenworks is behind the new Kobalt cordless power tools and USB-C charging batteries.

As far as I am aware, Chervon, the parent company of Flex and Skil, had been the only OEM for the Lowe’s Kobalt 24V cordless power tool line.

Lowe’s recently removed Flex 24V cordless power tools from their stores. When I checked just now, I found that they had also removed most Flex tool listings from their online store as well.

From a new search, it seems that Lowe’s has also removed all Skil cordless power tools from their stores – at least near me – with few listings remaining in their online store. Skil corded power tools remain at Lowe’s, at least for now.

Still, even though Lowe’s seems to have abandoned Flex and Skil brands, it comes as a surprise that they would switch to Greenworks for their latest generation of Kobalt 24V cordless power tools, batteries, outdoor tools, and accessories.

It remains unclear if the new seemingly Greenworks-developed tools are the start of a replacement program, or simply an expansion.

In other words, is Lowe’s breaking their ties with Chervon, with Greenworks tools and batteries replacing more of the lineup on a rolling basis?

If Lowe’s is distancing themselves from Chervon brands and also their long-established OEM relationship for Kobalt, what will that mean for their EGO brand of cordless outdoor tools and accessories?

There are a lot of questions and few answers.

I asked Lowe’s communication contacts for more information but never heard back. Lowe’s doesn’t have any other contacts for its Kobalt brand.

Chervon no longer has press/media contacts. I haven’t heard from Greenworks in about 2 years, but sent them an email to see if they can answer any questions.

See Also:

New Kobalt 24V Cordless Blower Launched at Lowe’s
Kobalt 24V Power Tool Battery Now has USB-C Charging
Lowe’s Kobalt Cordless Revamp is Growing

In other news, I recently saw that Greenworks took over the tools section at my local Target store.

I didn’t think this was worth its own post, but it seemed appropriate to wedge in since we’re talking about Greenworks taking over the new Kobalt 24V cordless power tool expansion at Lowe’s.

Discussion

Not to mince words, I’m very surprised that Lowe’s entrusted its next-gen Kobalt 24V cordless power tools to Greenworks. From what I’ve seen, Greenworks’ 24V tools are not up to the same quality and performance standards as the brushless tools Chervon developed for the brand. But then again, many cordless power tool brands and OEMs are broadly capable and can produce whatever level of quality the customer – whether retail or end user – demands.

I see this as a win for Home Depot and Ryobi. Maybe Craftsman will gain some market share out of this new Lowe’s-Greenworks arrangement.

It’s not unheard of for private label brands to have multiple OEM partners. Maybe 15 years ago, Sears had Craftsman cordless power tools made by TTI (Ryobi), Chervon, and I believe Positec for some. They later had a Bolt-On system made by Stanley Black & Decker. Some of their cordless power tools were identical to Bosch and Dremel.

I see 2 possibilities – either i) Lowe’s is revamping the Kobalt 24V cordless power tool line, with this only the start of their partnership with Greenworks, or ii) they’ll have a mix of Chervon and Greenworks-made tools.

Greenworks’ initial promo images for the new Kobalt power tools show outdoor power tools but also core tools – a drill, impact driver, and reciprocating saw.

How many drills, impact drivers, and core saws are going to be in the Kobalt lineup? My guess is that Lowe’s will have the new Greenworks tools on shelves for Father’s Day.

My guess is that if there are no room for Chervon-made core Kobalt brushless tools, more and more of the legacy offerings will be replaced over time.

It could also be a limited-scope experiment, but I don’t think that’s likely.

Lowe’s launched their Gen-3 Kobalt brushless tools over 3 years ago – see New Gen-3 Kobalt 24V Cordless Power Tools at Lowe’s.

So I guess these new Greenworks tools are Gen 4?

Lowe’s went from Kobalt 18V to 20V in 2013 – that was mainly a relabeling – and then to 24V Max in 2016. Well, at least the new Greenworks-powered Kobalt 24V tools and batteries seem to be compatible with the past 10 years of Chervon-made tools and batteries.

Hmm – I suppose this news shouldn’t be so surprising – I just remembered my post about their new USB-C-recharged batteries and 24V cordless power tool combo kit.

See Also: Are Greenworks Cordless Power Tools Worth any Attention?

Maybe we’re going to see some of Greenworks “PowerAll 24V” tools in Kobalt blue.

We’re unlikely to get much clarity from Lowe’s, Kobalt, or Greenworks, and so we’ll just have to see what happens.