What’s the fuss with DeWalt PowerStack?

If you’re a DeWalt fan, you’ll have most certainly heard about PowerStack by now. Many 18V XR tool owners have been holding off until the technology matures past the first generation; Now, the second generation of PowerStack battery has been released, the DCBP518. This features an electrical capacity of 5.0 Amp-hours, but the practical capacity is much improved over the DCB184 5.0Ah battery pack.

What’s the difference?

The main difference is hinted to in the new name, PowerStack. Regular battery packs are made up of a bundle of mass-produced cylindrical cells. In the 5.0Ah battery these are called 18650, named after the 18mm diameter and 65mm length. Cylindrical cells have been used in electric cars, e-bikes, power banks, e- cigarettes, torches and more. New PowerStack battery packs are made up of pouch cells, which are flat cuboids. These have been used for years now in mobile phones, laptops, tablets, drones and other compact electronics.

What’re the advantages?

The most obvious difference is the shape, cylinders vs cuboids. If you have a box full of tins of cola, vs a box full of juice boxes, which box has more liquid? The second one, because there is very little wasted space between the juice boxes, compared to the large gaps between each tin. The same logic applies to PowerStack batteries compared to cylindrical cell batteries. This is why the Compact PowerStack Battery (with a 1.7Ah) capacity was so much smaller than the 2.0Ah battery pack. The second advantage is that the pouch cells can be specified by DeWalt much more specifically, allowing them to pick the perfect voltage range for any given configuration of number of pouches per battery.

What does this mean for me?

In real-world terms, this means three main things:

• 50% more power,
• 50% more work per charge, and
• 2x lifespan.

The configuration of the pouch cells and the supporting circuitry allows for a higher maximum output Wattage, giving more power to the tool. The cells themselves stay cooler because of lower resistance in the cells, allowing more work to be carried out per charge of the battery. The overall lifetime of the battery packs is longer because the pouches lose less capacity over time than cylindrical cells.

3 Year Guarantee?

DeWalt are so confident in this new technology that they are backing all PowerStack batteries (Compact & 5.0Ah) with their full 3-Year Guarantee, normally only available on power tools. They come with a standard 1 Year guarantee that can be extended to 3 when you register the battery in your MyDeWalt account.

Do PowerStack batteries work with 18V XR power tools?

Yes. The PowerStack batteries are 18V XR, and they are fully compatible with all existing 18 Volt XR DeWalt powertools and chargers. The new range of power tools released with PowerStack batteries are also compatible with original 18V XR battery packs with cylindrical cells.