Bosch is coming out with a new CORE18V 12.0Ah battery pack. Bosch announced and teased about 4.0Ah and 8.0Ah batteries back in 2018, but this is the first time a new 15-cell CORE18V 12.0Ah battery has been discussed.
Bosch has launched their new 18V “MegaWatt” cordless miter saw recently, or at least it’s now available for sale on Amazon. I haven’t seen any press materials (that I can find), or maybe we’re just not in the loop anymore as with their recent power tool break-up promotion.
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With some of last year’s MegaWatt Crew tools on the market, and others presumably on the way, what comes next for Bosch?
Note – these images were found via UK resources. It seems that Bosch uses PRO Core18V branding in some markets, and CORE18V here in the US.
ALSO, please keep in mind that none of this is official.
What We Know About the Bosch CORE18V 12.0Ah Battery
In their Amazon description for the new Bosch “MegaWatt Crew” miter saw, it says:
MEGAWATT Technology – a Bosch-exclusive brushless high-performance motor and drive-train system engineered to take full advantage of the additional power generated by 8.0 Ah and 12.0 Ah CORE18V batteries.
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12.0Ah?
I never received a press release about the miter saw, and so maybe Bosch released something about the new 12.0Ah CoRE18V battery via social media, paid influencer campaigns, or otherwise. So, I searched for details.
A couple of tries, and… nothing.
So I worked some more research magic and… I found several other references to the 12.0Ah battery, plus a product listing and images on ToolStop, a UK retailer.
Then, I felt really silly, as it seems the Bosch CORE18V 12.0Ah battery is referenced right on Bosch UK’s power tools site. Whoops.
There’s even a german-language video from March 2018 discussing the new 12.0Ah battery in the context of the other “ProCORE18V” batteries, along with a “coming in 2018” claim.
Maybe I saw hints about the Bosch CORE18V 12.0Ah battery sooner? Still, seeing it mentioned in a USA product page? Optimistically, that could be an indication that we’re going to see it here soon. Maybe in 2020?
Let’s Make Some Predictions
Bosch’s 18V MegaWatt Crew cordless power tools were announced nearly a year ago, but not many of them have hit the market yet. So what’s the hold up?
Or, perhaps new cordless power tools will be tied with the launch of this CORE18V 12.0Ah battery? Again, this part is all speculations.
Back in April, someone left a comment on our CORE18V battery post. They wrote:
Just herd today that Bosch is working on a 12.0 battery and a dual pack powered breaker hammer and table saw!!!
Well, that seems… actually… it seems possible.
Milwaukee has their new M18 High Output cordless power tools, including a 12″ miter saw. Dewalt has their Flexvolt cordless table saw and 12″ miter saws. Hitachi/Metabo HPT has their MultiVolt cordless tools. Makita is coming out with a new XGT cordless power tool system.
What next-gen “cordless jobsite” tools has Bosch come out with recently? An 8-1/2″ cordless miter saw?
Bosch has had CORE18V 6.3Ah batteries for a while. Stepping up to 7.0Ah or 8.0Ah is a step up in charge capacity, but not necessarily a step-up in power or work potential.
Now a 12.0Ah battery – these packs are built with 15 Li-ion cells, or 50% more than typical 10-cell high capacity battery packs.
Sure, stepping up to 12.0Ah would surely provide more runtime. But, launching their first-ever 15-cell Li-ion battery would also mean greater power potential that Bosch would surely want to leverage with new higher-powered cordless power tools.
I am highly confident that Bosch is working on new tools to leverage the potential of this 12.0Ah battery. I cannot imagine a scenario where a larger, heavier, and pricier 15-cell Li-ion battery pack makes sense without there being new higher-powered tools that can take advantage of it.
That one comment tip about a dual battery-powered breaker hammer and table saw? I could definitely see a two-battery jackhammer and two-battery table saw leading Bosch’s push into the next-gen cordless power tool arena.
If there is a two-battery-powered cordless Bosch table saw, there could potentially be different power options. Maybe it could fit (1) of these batteries or (2) non-CORE18V batteries. Maybe it’ll have a plug-in adapter? Bosch’s portable table saws are pretty popular, and it’s about time we saw a cordless option from them.
What else might we see? A 12″ sliding miter saw? A larger cordless jobsite vac or dust extractor?
I’d believe this new Bosch battery to be their key to unlocking next-gen cordless power tool tech. Sure, CORE18V enables Bosch to compete against other brands’ next-gen cordless power tool systems, but a 15-cell battery will allow for much more balanced competition.
Abner
I was just at my local home depot and they have most of the Pro Black Friday sales in the middle of the front walkway. Most of them are still in boxes which read PRO BLACK FRIDAY and they say 11/14/2019. So i guess thats when the deals are supposed to go live. Some looked like the same deals from last year, namely the dewalt miter saws and table saws. And also, i found on the home depot app an offer for the new Milwaukee M12 Installation Driver, which comes with a free 6ah battery
Nathan
Probably going to be their milwaukee M18 system. PRO-core batteries for the high draw demand tools. Like a new mitre saw, router whatever. In fact I would like to see them do a cordless 2.25HP series router – only for someone to do it.
big grinder, SDS.
could be interestings but I bet they are all MEGA something. Their marketing needs alot of work.
Patrick
Seems that we’re still waiting to see quite a few “Megawatt” items announced nearly a year ago.
Jack Braddell
How about a mega right angle drill as good as the Milwaukee 18 volt Hawg. I hate having two and three diffy battery platforms on the job.
Stephen
Any word on the Bosch 10,000 lumen LED light (yes, ten thousand)? I could see this battery matching up nicely with such a high powered light.
Jim Felt
I love my 18v flat folding Bosch LED lamp heads but 10K lumens?
Don’t we all think Milwaukee’s new battery platform will appear long before Bosch at their present rate of upgrading?
Stephen
I have the flat folding 420 lumen light and the larger 1800 lumen work light. Both are well designed and great for around the house jobs.
10,000 lumens is absurd for home use…but I still want it!!!
PETE
What will it unlock? Well… look at whatever milwaukee is doing with their 12ah…. thats what they’ll be doing lol. Bosch, while great tools, isn’t much of an innovator.
Aaron
I’m just waiting for Bosch to come out with a competitive 1/2″ impact wrench. They are so far behind!
CaveSAR
Bosch needs to ship ProCore in the States sooner rather than later.
My first “pro” cordless reciprocating saw was Bosch because they were the only one several years offering a 6 Ah battery pack. For medium level trail clearing, cutting brush, a cordless reciprocating saw with a pruning saw blade saves the need for chaps and the level of safety gearing up, a 2nd person for safety, that using a chainsaw requires.
https://www.bosch-professional.com/gb/en/procore18v/
Robert
I’m just going to stick it on the radio and run it full blast for a week on my roof. ?
Johnny4
A dual 18V batter chain saw would be nice. It’s still big hole in their portfolio.
Robert
Just to clarify, the 8ah Core battery is a big step up in power and work potential over their 6.3ah.
They don’t bother explaining it here in the States, but the Core 4ah, 8ah and mythical 12ah use larger cells than the older Core 6.3ah (which was a step over their previous packs). Hence, why we’re all quite disappointed about the “strong arm” being delayed to who knows when. The 8ah core battery could put it in the same category as the Makita LXT x2 saws.
Ryan Beaton
And here i be at the end of Nov 2020 and still haven’t seen this 12.0 Core battery….I love my Bosch 18v tools and don’t see myself switching but to be frustrated constantly due to wondering wtf they are waiting for….if they wait to long they are gonna get left behind in inovation and by folks loyal to the brand(like me) **I’ve modified 3 weed whackers now to run off 18v Bosch..ya think I’d have bought one if i could by now??(um YEAH) how about an 18v pop rivet tool? Haven’t seen anyone do that…I live in western Canada, it snows a wee bit here– so haven’t seen a cordless snow thrower…why? I’m actually gonna rig some sorta thing up so i can use one of my Bosch batts in a cordless snow thrower/blower maybe today or tmrw..I’ve got some other mods and shit that I’ve already done or other ideas I’d be willing to share if anyone from Bosch asked me…but well I’m starting to think that they don’t really give a f about what the consumer wants….tiz noo good!