We recently posted about a new Ryobi 9.0Ah battery that a reader brought to our attention. Now, Rob (thank you!) has brought our attention to a promo video for the new batteries.
In that video, we get a first glimpse at new Ryobi 18V One+ High Energy Li-ion battery packs in 3.0Ah, 6.0Ah, and 9.0Ah sizes.
It looks like the battery cells received an upgrade, from an 18650 cell form factor to something larger, such as 20700.
It’s said that there’s over 20% greater electrochemical reaction volume per cell, which translates to cooler-running battery packs that can deliver more power for longer compared to Ryobi’s lower capacity battery packs.
How much cooler? They say 25% less heat is generated.
All this is explained in a promo video uploaded by a 3rd party. They seem to have also been contracted for several Milwaukee Europe videos. I guess all the videos were uploaded as part of a public portfolio.
Although this means the info comes from an unofficial source, the source seems to be partnered with Ryobi, Milwaukee, and TTI for promo video production, and so we’re inclined to trust it.
The video also describes how there are 4 tabs instead of 2, allowing the 3.0Ah compact battery pack to be used on more power-hungry tools such as saws and angle grinders without suffering a hit to performance. (How? Why?)
To be frank, I don’t think I’ve seen or used a Ryobi compact battery pack – only their higher capacity 4.0Ah packs – and so I don’t think I’ve even considered whether some Ryobi 18V tools would suffer a performance hit when paired with smaller form factor batteries.
The promo video uses some disagreeable language, such as “energy highways.” And they say that one 3.0Ah Lithium+ High Energy pack is equivalent to up to three 1.5Ah compact battery packs without providing supporting context.
They also say that you can “instantly upgrade the performance of all your One+ tools,” and so I assume the 6.0Ah and 9.0Ah packs are built with similarly larger-than-18650 battery cells.
There are questions about how these batteries are better than current battery packs, and exactly how. But as they’re built with larger cells, there’s no question that they are better. Don’t worry, we’ll dig and prod for more the details and ask plenty of hard questions. But that’s just because we’re curious and we know some of you are too.
In short, new batteries are coming to Ryobi’s One+ lineup, and they’re boasting of longer runtime and better performance.
First Thoughts
As long as the price is right, WooHoo!
See Also: Ryobi 18V 9.0Ah Battery on the Way?
Thank you to Rob for finding and sharing the video!