Lithium drills are really making an impact on the cordless tool market, and with good reason. Lithium drills offer the power we all want, with the weight savings and run time that we need to make a cordless drill work for us.
All of the major tool maker have a lithium drill available now, so you have many to chose from. I never tell my contractors what color tool they like, I just give them the pros and cons of the brands I sell and let them chose their favorite. This article will give you some info on lithium drills that will hopefully help you make a good decision and understand some of the traits of lithium drills.
Lithium Drills
Lithium batteries are very different from the NiCad and NIMH batteries you have used in the past. They can pack a lot more energy in a smaller package and understanding what they can and can't do in a lithium drill may save you some frustration.
One of the cool features of a lithium drill is that the drill maintains it's power until the battery is drained then it just quits. With this in mind, if you get to the site and your battery is dead, if you charge it for 5-10 minutes, you will have full power (I said full power, not full run time. You need the full charge for both!). This is a great trait of the lithium drill and many trades and service techs will benefit from this feature.
A lithium drill is much lighter than a comparable drill of the same voltage. This allows you to use higher voltage tools with lighter weight. Remember, voltage equals power, mah equals the gas tank of the battery. So, if you are using a 12 volt now, a 18 volt or even a 36 volt lithium drill will offer you much more power and still have the same run time of you 12 volt with close to the same weight.
What is the down side of a lithium drill? The first thing that always comes to mind is cost. The good news is as more and more lithium drills hit the market, the cost is dropping. One other thing inherent to lithium drills is problems that can occur in cold weather. Lithium batteries don't like a large demand (load) in very cold weather. If you live a colder climate, you will need to warm up the batteries. It may be as simple as putting the battery in your pocket or just slowly running the drill with no load until the "juice" gets flowing. Knowing this going in will save you a lot of frustration with your new lithium drill.
Many people think that new battery technology is just planned obsolescence to get you to buy a new tool. Think that if you will, but the new lithium drills really are in a class in themselves compared to the NiCad and NIMH tools. Older DeWalt tools can actually use the new lithium batteries in them.
If you are in the market for a new cordless drill, consider a lithium drill. The pricing is going down, the performance is going up.