Joshua B. spotted new massive capacity power tool batteries over at Harbor Freight and they are the new 20V 8.0 ah and 12.0 ah batteries!
Disclosure:Â This is not a review, this is tool news. Tool Craze cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information/specifications/features of any tool listed in this article. Manufacturer marketing claims may not always meet expectations. Tool Craze is not responsible if products do not live up to claimed expectations. Please do your full research before buying any products. Tool Craze is an Amazon Associate, and also an affiliate with the Home Depot, Acme Tools, Ohio Power Tool, Tool Nut, Lowe’s, Ebay, and Walmart and places affiliate links to these retailers. If you purchase something through a link on the Tool Craze site, Tool Craze may get a share of the sale.
The Hercules brand is one of Harbor Freights newer brands that is trying to compete with pro brands like Dewalt, Makita, and Milwaukee to name a few and like the rest of their tools also happen to be lower priced than their competitors. They had good offerings to start of with and since then have even added brushless power tools to their arsenal. So it is good to see the brand growing and expanding. Even their batteries are getting some good additions as they have just added a large 10 celled 20V battery with a massive 8.0 ah capacity and a larger 15 celled battery with even greater 12.0 ah capacity. Ah stands for amp hours and is a measurement of runtime capacity so the higher the amp hours, the longer it will run. Think of how large a gas tank in a car is. A car with a 16 gallon tank will go twice as far as an 8 gallon tank if all other things being equal. So a 8.0 ah battery will theoretically run about twice as long as a 4.0 ah battery and the 12.0 ah battery will run about 3 times as long as a 4.0 ah battery under similar circumstances.
What’s interesting to note also is that both new large capacity 20 volt batteries from Hercules are using newer and better 21700 battery cells. Many claim that these newer cells are superior over 18650 cells in that they have improved capacities and may even increase performance as well. How much better performance if any needs to be tested, but many manufacturers claim these improvements. Even Harbor Freight says on their page that the 8ah battery can get up to 35% more power, 60% more runtime, and 50% more cuts per charge than their Hercules 20V 5.0 ah battery. They claim the 12.0 ah battery can get 90% more power, 145% more runtime, and 140% more cuts per charge than their 5.0 ah battery. Both comparisons are as follows, the more power claim is when compared to their 5ah battery, the more runtime claim is compared to their 5ah battery at 15a discharge and the more cuts per charge claim are with their 5ah battery using their cordless circular saw cutting 2×6 pine.
Both batteries feature a battery gauge on the front, rubber overmolding on the bottoms of the batteries and they say they are not only impact resistant but have temperature and overload protection to help optimize the battery especially during heavy use. They also say these new batteries are designed for high demand tools, so I wonder if we will see brand new high power draw tools that take advantage of these new batteries? I hope so.
And being Harbor Freight batteries, though they are not inexpensive, they are priced lower than the competition at $99.99 for the 8.0 and $139.99 for the 12.0.
A big thanks to Joshua B. for spotting!
- Designed for high-demand tools to power through the toughest jobs
- Innovative temperature and overload protection optimizes the battery and tool during heavy use
- High performance lithium-ion battery cells
- Impact resistant overmold increases protection from drops and jobsite debris
- Works with all HERCULES™ 20V cordless tools
Free 2 day shipping – Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
DISCLOSURE:
Tool Craze does not sell this product or any product on the Tool Craze website. Tool Craze does not handle the sale of any item in any way. If you purchase something through a link on the Tool Craze site, Tool Craze may get a share of the sale. Please refer to the About section for more info. Tool Craze cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information/specifications/features of any tool listed in this article. Please do your full research before buying any products.
Leave a Comment