4 ms·

I think that's a bit trickier. If Makita or whoever was forced to change their batteries, anyone with a big catalogue of their tools would be pretty miffed. Al

by fatboy 4y ago

I think that's a bit trickier. If Makita or whoever was forced to change their batteries, anyone with a big catalogue of their tools would be pretty miffed. Also, I've mentioned this on hn before, there is already the Cordless Alliance, which does exactly this. Sadly, there's only a couple of useful-in-a-mainstream-sense brands in there: Mafell and Metabo. The rest are very niche.

namdnay 4y ago
I would be wary of this "cordless alliance", the dynamics are closer to that of a kingdom than an alliance... it's basically lots of small(er) german tool manufacturers using Metabo batteries instead of developing their own. Which is great, but not really the same thing as an alliance of equals agreeing to align existing systems
- fatboy 4y ago
  That's not really so surprising though. Any brand that already has a system would be penalising existing customers by changing, we're not talking usb cables here. Good on Metabo for doing it, and good on Mafell for signing up to use them. The smaller brands it's a no-brainer I guess.
6510 4y ago
I just sold some tools for 5 euro each. They need new batteries but company is gone. Makita can just continue to sell their old batteries while their new tools use a standardized form factor. They could also make an old type battery with replaceable cells.
- fatboy 4y ago
  I have five or six Makita 18v batteries and a load of their tools. If they only make new tools with the new battery they are potentially making me quite miffed. If I want the new tool I need also the new batteries and charger. Also I'd need multiple batteries because you can't really only have one. Personally I'd be happy for that situation because of the big upside, but I can see why a company would not want it. Plus, the most logical thing to do is not make a new standard, but pick an existing one. But who gets to be the golden brand whose battery system remains unchanged? I would love it to happen but I can't see it happening for a while.
  - saalweachter 4y ago
    > But who gets to be the golden brand whose battery system remains unchanged? The first one to make all relevant patents & designs available royalty-free.
  - 6510 4y ago
    There is probably some sensible time frame to adopt a new battery.
- stephen_g 4y ago
  As somebody who has a couple of Makita tools and batteries, it would be really bad if they were hypothetically forced to change. Specifically because not being able to get new tools that use my existing 18V batteries would mean buying a whole set of new batteries, and then it’s so annoying keeping two kinds of batteries that when the old ones wear out, I’d probably instead buy new tools for the new ones. So the old tools potentially become e-waste far sooner than they would be (the old batteries wouldn’t be available forever) as well as the waste of resources for the premature replacement of all the tools and batteries…
  - TheSpiceIsLife 4y ago
    Perhaps not an entirely ideal solution for all scenario, adaptors are available for any of the big brands. Perhaps part of a battery standardisation push could include making these available at a reasonable price.
TheRealPomax 4y ago
Why? It's not like manufacturers haven't switched all their batteries themselves before? If all of them are forced to have the same batteries, that's no different from makita or dewalt or bosch going "we're switching to a new 24V battery system, and your old tools won't take them. deal with it".

by fatboy 4y ago

namdnay 4y ago

I would be wary of this "cordless alliance", the dynamics are closer to that of a kingdom than an alliance... it's basically lots of small(er) german tool manufacturers using Metabo batteries instead of developing their own. Which is great, but not really the same thing as an alliance of equals agreeing to align existing systems

fatboy 4y ago
That's not really so surprising though. Any brand that already has a system would be penalising existing customers by changing, we're not talking usb cables here. Good on Metabo for doing it, and good on Mafell for signing up to use them. The smaller brands it's a no-brainer I guess.

6510 4y ago

I just sold some tools for 5 euro each. They need new batteries but company is gone. Makita can just continue to sell their old batteries while their new tools use a standardized form factor. They could also make an old type battery with replaceable cells.

fatboy 4y ago
I have five or six Makita 18v batteries and a load of their tools. If they only make new tools with the new battery they are potentially making me quite miffed. If I want the new tool I need also the new batteries and charger. Also I'd need multiple batteries because you can't really only have one. Personally I'd be happy for that situation because of the big upside, but I can see why a company would not want it. Plus, the most logical thing to do is not make a new standard, but pick an existing one. But who gets to be the golden brand whose battery system remains unchanged? I would love it to happen but I can't see it happening for a while.
- saalweachter 4y ago
  > But who gets to be the golden brand whose battery system remains unchanged? The first one to make all relevant patents & designs available royalty-free.
- 6510 4y ago
  There is probably some sensible time frame to adopt a new battery.
stephen_g 4y ago
As somebody who has a couple of Makita tools and batteries, it would be really bad if they were hypothetically forced to change. Specifically because not being able to get new tools that use my existing 18V batteries would mean buying a whole set of new batteries, and then it’s so annoying keeping two kinds of batteries that when the old ones wear out, I’d probably instead buy new tools for the new ones. So the old tools potentially become e-waste far sooner than they would be (the old batteries wouldn’t be available forever) as well as the waste of resources for the premature replacement of all the tools and batteries…
- TheSpiceIsLife 4y ago
  Perhaps not an entirely ideal solution for all scenario, adaptors are available for any of the big brands. Perhaps part of a battery standardisation push could include making these available at a reasonable price.

TheRealPomax 4y ago

Why? It's not like manufacturers haven't switched all their batteries themselves before? If all of them are forced to have the same batteries, that's no different from makita or dewalt or bosch going "we're switching to a new 24V battery system, and your old tools won't take them. deal with it".