In previous years, weve seen leaked images of Makita 40V batteries with the XGT naming, and we were wondering when Makita would officially announce them here in the USA. I understand that the date of this article is April 1st, however this is no joke. Makita has officially announced their new cordless power tool line under the XGT name which is similar to how Makita labels their current 18V and 12V lines as LXT and CXT respectively. And at the heart of the new XGT cordless line is the new XGT 40V max (actual 36 Volts) and it powers a new line of 40V and 80V (actual 72 volts). This new line will allow Makita to produce larger and more powerful tools and larger capacity batteries as well as supporting new power tools that are similar 36V tools in size but are able to be lighter and less bulkier due to only needing one battery rather than two batteries like those found on their X2 LXT tools. And under this same new line, they will also offer 40V power tools that rival the size and weight of current 18V tools so that this one system can have it all.
Why the need for a Makita 40V / 80V system?
When I first learned of the new Makita XGT 40V max batteries, I scratched my head and asked why? They already have an excellent 18V LXT system that also has X2 power tools that use two 18V batteries to provide 36 volts for when higher than 18V performance is needed. So it didnt make much sense to me why Makita would start a new 40V cordless power tool system. Makita says that they started a new 40V powertool system because X2 has reached its maximum. Dewalt has two battery systems. They have a Flexvolt 60V system and a 20V system. However, the Flexvolt 20V battery is not compatible with 60V tools. Milwaukee also has an 18V system, as well as the MX Fuel system (which Makita refers to as a car battery?). They stated that they could not have 2 different battery platforms. However technically, having both an LXT (18V) and XGT (40V/80V) lines running side by side, they are in fact running 2 battery platforms. Makita now has 3 cordless power tools platforms, if you include their 12V CXT lines. Makita believes that the XGT will provide the same versatility as other brands, but streamlined into one. For example, youll still find your standard compact and premium drills, hammer drills, impact drivers and impact wrenches that youd normally find in any cordless 18V line also available in Makitas XGT lineup however now as 40V tools that have similar size, and weight and performance as their 18V brothers. Some even offer slightly more performance than the Yellow and Red 18V options.
One of the main benefits of Makitas XGT line is that they can now offer tools similar to their X2 (36V) tools but with only one battery pack instead of two. This cuts down on bulk and weight as well.
Makita XGT offers a variety of X2 tools. These tools are called the XGT80V Max power tools and also feature the X2 naming. And thats because they use two XGT 40V Max batteries together to pump out 80 volts max (72 actual volts). Makita can make tools that are more powerful than the LXT X2 system’s. They say we can expect larger tools like a 5 cm SDS Max rotary hammer and 13 kg demo hammer running on XGT 80V Max! We can also expect interesting power tools like a new 1-1/20 cm rotary hammer, 1-9/41 cm rotary hammer, 7 kg demo hammer, and a 10-1/10 cm circular saw as part of the 40V side of things. We can also expect new XGT power tools similar to current LXT 18V and X2 power tools like angle grinders in 4-
The heart of the system is no doubt the XGT 40V batteries. They come in medium, large, and X-large sizes 2.5ah, 4.0ah, and 5.0ah respectively. Compact batteries won’t be found because the smallest pack has 10 cells. This means that even compact XGT tools such as drills or impact drivers can theoretically not have a weight and size as small as an 18V tool with compact 5 cell batteries. Although I have not seen side-by-side comparisons of XGT and 18V batteries, they did say that the 2.5ah 2.5ahXGT battery is comparable in weight to an LXT5.0ah battery. This makes me think the 2.5ah 2.5ahXGT battery might be smaller than the LXT5.0 battery. The XGT 4.0ah battery is a little larger than the 2.5ah, with the XGT 5.0ah battery BL4050F being larger than 4.0. When all three are put side by side, the 5.0ah XGT looks similar in size to a 15 cell battery, maybe a little shorter. Makita confirmed that the new XGT battery uses 18650 cells and, depending on the battery, 21700 cells. These larger batteries have greater capacities.
Makita also said that concrete and metal working are two categories they deem that would benefit from XGT and as mentioned above, are already heavily invested in out of the gate. They say that XGT will open up opportunities for light equipment, which is a market dominated by gas, pneumatic and plug-in electric, with few cordless battery powered options. Milwaukee is the only brand to have a cordless battery-powered tool with its MX Fuel system. Makita looks to get into this portion of the market as well with their XGT system.
Makita also highly regarded their XGT system, putting emphasis on the durability of the components. With durable outer casing and cell holder of their XGT batteries, and with the new XGT tools using high rigidity battery rails.
Many of the current LXT X2 36V tools are outdoor power tools and looking at the XGT family photo, we can see they are also offering XGT outdoor power tools as well. I see two string trimmers and a leaf blower.
How long does it take to charge the battery? The BL4025 2.5ah battery has a 28 minute minimum charge to 100% and 19 minutes to a 80% charge, BL4040 4.0ah 45min charge to 100%, 31min 80% charge. Two fans are included in the main charger, a DC40RA fast charger. One fan cools the battery while the other cools the circuitry. A double charger is also available that can simultaneously charge two XGT battery.
What about the LXT 18V System?
Makita did say themselves that 2 platforms were unacceptable for them, so does that mean that this is the end of their large and popular 18V LXT system? They will actually be running two cordless lines simultaneously (three including CXT), as the XGT system was not meant to replace the LXT 18V lineup.
Are the LXT and XGT systems cross compatible? Yes and no, but not always. The two systems are not cross compatible. The only exception to this rule however, is that the new XGT charger can accept and charge LXT 18V batteries but only with an optional adaptor.
Makita XGT
Makita is proud of its new cordless system. They say we can expect 50+ products, many of them 40V and some X2 80V. They say that Makita XGT will launch in mid April so expect them to hit stores soon.
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