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Makita is finally joining the 4Ah lithium-ion battery party!
It’s been a longtime coming, and some would say Makita are in danger of missing the boat; after-all Metabo are already rolling out cordless power tools with 5.2Ah batteries, and we’re hearing rumours of Hitachi boosting their cordless tools with 5Ah packs.
However, timing and tardiness asides, Makita have joined the party, and we’re impressed with what we’ve seen so far.
We’ve identified some of the key benefits Makita’s 4Ah li-ion batteries are going to bring you, as Lorna explains in our Toolstop TVvideo (click here or watch it in our player below).
35% increase in capacity over Makita’s legendary 3Ah batteries.
Lots of extra juice in your fully charged li-ion battery, but no extra weight gain, which is a nice touch.
Incredible Charge Times!
We all know that the larger capacity of the battery, the longer it takes to charge. Typically 4Ah li-ion batteries can take around 60 minutes to fully charge, with some manufacturers claiming that the battery will be 70% charged in 30 minutes or thereabouts.
For example, DeWALT’s excellent 4Ah system requires 70 minutes to fully charge.
Makita, in comparison, seem to be keeping with its reputation for fast charging batteries. Remember, the current 3Ah li-ion packs, when dropped in the DC18RC charger, are fully charged in 22 minutes.
The great news is that the same charger will fully feed the new 4Ah batteries in only 36 minutes.
You may remember this article where we presented the argument that 2 fast charging 3Ah batteries are better than one slow charging 4Ah. Could the new argument be 2 fast charging 4Ah batteries are better than one 5.2Ah battery? You decide!
Backwards Compatability
A concern for some has been whether Makita’s new 4Ah fast charging li-ion batteries will work in their older Makita cordless tools.
Makita has made it clear that the 4Ah battery packs will be backwards compatable, working in over 100 of their cordless power tools. Check for the star label on your tool, or the yellow panel, per the graphic above.
