New Milwaukee M18 (Gen 4) & M12 (Gen 3) Fuel Drills And Impacts

Milwaukee has recently announced all new updates to their flagship 18V and 12V drills and impacts with new Fuel models! That means a new M18 Fuel drill, hammer drill, and impact driver and M12 Fuel drill, hammer drill, and impact driver. They are set to launch August 2022.

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Gen 4 M18 Fuel Drills

Starting off first with the new M18 Fuel drills which are high torque drills, they have two new models the 1/2″ drill/driver 2903-22 and the 1/2″ hammer drill 2904-22. Both models are very similar with one key difference being whether it has the ability to hammer drill or not. Both models have increased performance over previous M18 Fuel drill models and top out at 1,400 in-lbs of torque! That’s the most torque I’ve seen on a cordless drill and even matches the Flex 24V brushless hammer drill with 1,400 in-lbs torque! What about the size? Fuel models have always been some of the most compact in their class and even though they are more powerful than the previous Gen 3 models, they at least do not grow in size and keep the same 6.9 inch length just as before making them still pretty compact for a high torque hammer drill!

These Gen 4 Fuel drills do gain a new feature in the form of safety with what Milwaukee calls AUTOSTOP. This feature stops the motor when the bit binds up to protect your arms and wrists from damage and strain. It is nice to see new features! It retains a similar side handle to previous versions and grabs on the top at a right angle and can be used for righties and lefties. But again like before, it doesn’t rotate to fine tune the position nor does it have a slot for a depth rod which comes in handy when hammer drilling.

M18 FUEL™ ½” Drill/Driver (2903-22)

• Volts: 18V
• Torque: 1,400 in-lbs
• RPM: 0 – 500 / 0 – 2,100
• Chuck Type: ½” All-Metal
• Tool Length: 6.9”
• Tool Weight (Without Battery): 3.3 lbs
• Kit Includes: M18 FUEL™ ½” Drill/Driver, (2) M18™ REDLITHIUM™ XC5.0 Battery Packs, M18™ & M12™ Multi-Volt Charger, Carrying Case, Side Handle, Belt Clip
• *Also available as a bare tool (2903-20)

M18 FUEL™ ½” Hammer Drill/Driver (2904-22)

• Volts: 18V
• Torque: 1,400 in-lbs
• RPM: 0 – 500 / 0 – 2,100
• BPM: 33,000
• Chuck Type: ½” All-Metal
• Tool Length: 6.9”
• Tool Weight (Without Battery): 3.3 lbs
• Kit Includes: M18 FUEL™ ½” Hammer Drill/Driver, (2) M18™ REDLITHIUM™ XC5.0 Battery Packs, M18™ & M12™ Multi-Volt Charger, Carrying Case, Side Handle, Belt Clip
• *Also available as a bare tool (2904-20)

Gen 4 M18 Fuel Impact Driver

The Gen 4 M18 Fuel impact driver is overall very similar to the previous Gen 3 with a similar design and feature set. Even the max torque is the same at 2,000 in-lbs. However there are some key improvements. For example, we finally have tri-LED’s on the head of the tool, a feature that helps much with shadow free lighting and felt like it was an endangered feature as many brands were moving away from this nifty feature.

It also shrinks the tool just a tad now at 4.47 inches in length making it pretty tiny in length. It’s actually shorter in length than sub compacts, like the Ridgid 18V sub compact model which was super tiny as is. Milwaukee states that this is the most powerful impact driver and reaches the fastest driving speeds. This is good to hear as the previous Gen 3 model was already a beast and was the first cordless impact driver to out perform the mighty Ridgid StealthForce impact!

Though the torque stays the same, they did improve performance by raising the RPM to a max 3,900 and impacts per minute at 4,400 which might help performance a bit over the previous model.

Other features include the 4 mode drive control and belt clip at the bottom.

There is also an optional boot to protect the impact head from wear.

M18 FUEL™ ¼” Hex Impact Driver (2953-22)

• Volts: 18V
• Torque: 2,000 in-lbs
• Speed: 4-Mode Drive Control
• RPM: 0 – 3,900
• IPM: 0 – 4,400
• Single Hand Bit Insertion: Yes
• Light: Tri-LED
• Tool Length: 4.47”
• Tool Weight (Without Battery): 2.2 lbs
• Kit Includes: M18 FUEL™ ¼” Hex Impact Driver, (2) M18™ REDLITHIUM™ XC5.0 Battery Packs, M18™ & M12™ Multi-Volt Charger, Carrying Case, Belt Clip
• *Also available as a bare tool (2953-20)

M18 FUEL™ 2-Tool Combo Kit (3697-22)

• Kit Includes: M18 FUEL™ ½” Hammer Drill/Driver, M18 FUEL™ ¼” Hex Impact Driver, (2) M18™ REDLITHIUM™ XC5.0 Battery Packs, M18™ & M12™ Multi-Volt Charger, Carrying Case, Side Handle, (2) Belt Clips

Gen 3 M12 Fuel Drills

Milwaukee’s M12 drills are now on Gen 3 and they have some notable improvements; they gain better performance and shrink in size! The Gen 2 drills didn’t increase in performance, they just shrank but the Gen 3 models are now stronger than ever at 400 in-lbs of torque and very compact at 5.9 and 6.0 inches in length for the drill and hammer drill respectively. This makes them not just the most compact of any 12V and 18V sub compact models, but also with the best rated torque for the size as there are some 12V models that rival these in size but at less power output! These Gen 3 M12 Fuel drills can hang with the 18V sub compacts. Unlike most 12V drills, these M12 Fuel models have full size 1/2″ metal and ratcheting chucks making them premium and robust. One big spec feature that I think will make these much better than the Gen 2’s is that they moved the speed two RPM down to 1,550 which is a much better gear ratio at high speed drilling in my opinion. I wish other brands would do the same. I know it’s nice to say that their drill has 1,700 or 2000 or more RPM and it seems nice to have on paper but you really get better torque distribution at a lower but still fast gearing such as 1500 RPM. I expect these models to perform noticeably better on high speed compared to previous models. Milwaukee also just released new High Output M12 batteries however unfortunately, these new M12 Fuel models do not come kitted with them if you buy the kits.

M12 FUEL™ ½” Drill/Driver (3403-22)

• • Volts: 12V
  • Torque: 400 in-lbs
  • RPM: 0 – 450 / 0 – 1,550
  • Chuck Type: ½” All-Metal
  • Tool Length: 5.9”
  • Tool Weight (Without Battery): 2.1 lbs
  • Kit Includes: M12 FUEL™ ½” Hammer Drill/Driver, M12™ REDLITHIUM™ CP2.0 Battery Pack, M12™ REDLITHIUM™ XC4.0 Battery Pack, M12™ Charger, Carrying Case, Belt Clip
  • *Also available as a bare tool (3403-20)

M12 FUEL™ ½” Hammer Drill/Driver (3404-22)

• Volts: 12V
• Torque: 400 in-lbs
• RPM: 0 – 450 / 0 – 1,550
• BPM: 0 – 6,750 / 0 – 22,500
• Chuck Type: ½” All-Metal
• Tool Length: 6.0”
• Tool Weight (Without Battery): 2.1 lbs
• Kit Includes: M12 FUEL™ ½” Hammer Drill/Driver, M12™ REDLITHIUM™ CP2.0 Battery Pack, M12™ REDLITHIUM™ XC4.0 Battery Pack, M12™ Charger, Carrying Case, Belt Clip
• *Also available as a bare tool (3404-20)

Last but definitely not least is the M12 Fuel Gen 3 impact driver. This packs so much power in a small size they might as well call it the mighty mouse. One theme with the M12 Fuel impact drivers from the past were 18V power in a 12 volt package and that continues with the Gen 3 M12 Fuel impact driver. Gen 2 was already crazy powerful for 12 volt at 1,300 in-lbs torque and the Gen 3 model now puts out 1,500 in-lbs of torque! It also shrinks in length just a smidge now at 5.0 inches in length which isn’t really much compared to the previous model but they finally added tri-LED lights on the front. Basically gave it the same treatment as the M18 Fuel Gen 4 model. Now I can say the M12 Fuel impact driver is a full featured flagship model.

It also retains the 4 mode drive control like the Gen 2 model and the control button is on top of the unit. And just like the previous models, it comes with a belt clip attached.

M12 FUEL™ ¼” Hex Impact Driver (3453-22)

• Volts: 12V
• Torque: 1,500 in-lbs
• Speed: 4-Mode Drive Control
• RPM: 1,500 / 2,700 / 3,600/ 0 – 3,600
• Single Hand Bit Insertion: Yes
• Light: Tri-LED
• Tool Length: 5.0”
• Tool Weight (Without Battery): 1.6 lbs
• Kit Includes: M12 FUEL™ ¼” Hex Impact Driver, (2) M12™ REDLITHIUM™ CP2.0 Battery Packs, M12™ Charger, Carrying Case, Belt Clip
• *Also available as a bare tool (3453-20)

M12 FUEL™ 2-Tool Combo Kit (3497-22)

• Kit Includes: M12 FUEL™ ½” Hammer Drill/Driver, M12 FUEL™ ¼” Hex Impact Driver, M12™ REDLITHIUM™ CP2.0 Battery Pack, M12™ REDLITHIUM™ XC4.0 Battery Pack, M12™ Charger, Carrying Case, (2) Belt Clips

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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. Tool Craze is an OhioPowerTool affiliate and an Amazon Associate and places affiliate links including those from other retailers Tool Craze is an affiliate partner with. 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.

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