Compatibility

One brand, several batteries: what fits and what does not

Picking a brand does not pick a battery. Makita sells four ranges side by side, Milwaukee four, Bosch four if you count the blue and the green. Buying a tool from the neighbouring range means buying batteries and a charger again.

Two brands sell two 18V ranges that do not fit each other. Makita, with LXT on the trade side and G-Series on the consumer side, and Bosch, with blue Professional and green Home and Garden. In both cases the label says 18V and the name on the box is the same: it is the most expensive mistake on the aisle.

Brand by brand

Makita

RangeStated voltageWhat fits it
LXT
trade		18VMakita 18V LXT tools. Makita states that LXT and XGT are not compatible with each other.
XGT
trade, high power		40V maxXGT tools only. Reinforced rails and a larger contact cross-section than LXT, the reason Makita gives.
CXT
compact tools		10.8V (12V max)Makita 10.8V tools that take an insert battery.
G-Series
consumer		18VG-Series tools. Its own footprint: Makita declares them not compatible with LXT, though both are 18V.

Bosch Professional, le bleu

RangeStated voltageWhat fits it
Professional 18V System
jobsite		18VEvery Bosch Professional 18V tool sold since 2008, and the 18V tools of the AMPShare alliance. GBA, ProCORE18V and EXPERT batteries all belong to this system.
Professional 12V System
compact tools		12VBosch Professional 12V and 10.8V tools, old and new, since 2005.

Bosch Home and Garden, le vert

RangeStated voltageWhat fits it
POWER FOR ALL 18V
home and garden		18VBosch 18V Home and Garden tools, and the products of the Power for All alliance partners.
POWER FOR ALL 36V
garden, high power		36VThe 36V machines of the green range.

DeWalt

RangeStated voltageWhat fits it
XR 18V
jobsite		18V (20V max)XR 18V tools. An XR FLEXVOLT 54V battery also fits: it switches itself to 18V.
XR FLEXVOLT
power-hungry tools		54VFLEXVOLT tools, plus every XR 18V tool and charger. The reverse does not hold: an 18V battery will not run a 54V tool.
POWERSTACK
flat cells within XR		18VNot a separate range: POWERSTACK packs are XR 18V batteries.
XR 12V
compact tools		12VDeWalt 10.8V and 12V tools. DeWalt publishes nothing about moving to 18V.

Metabo

RangeStated voltageWhat fits it
Classe 18 V
jobsite		18VEvery Metabo machine of the same voltage class since 2009, and the 18V machines of the CAS alliance brands. Li-Ion and LiHD share the same mount.
Classe 12 V
compact tools		12VTwo mounts coexist in this class: push-in on older PowerMaxx machines, slide-on on newer ones. An official adapter bridges them, inside 12V only.

Milwaukee

RangeStated voltageWhat fits it
M18
jobsite		18VM18 tools. HIGH OUTPUT and FORGE are M18 batteries, not a separate range.
M12
compact tools		12VM12 tools. Dual chargers refill both M12 and M18: that covers charging only.
MX FUEL
heavy equipment		not publishedMX FUEL machines. Milwaukee does not publish the voltage on the pages we read.

Ryobi

RangeStated voltageWhat fits it
18V ONE+
consumer		18VEvery 18V ONE+ tool. Ryobi states that the ONE+ HP range belongs to the same concept and takes the same battery.
36V MAX POWER
garden		36V36V machines. Ryobi publishes nothing about moving up from 18V.

Einhell

RangeStated voltageWhat fits it
Power X-Change
consumer		18VA single system for the whole tool range, including 36V machines, which take two 18V batteries instead of a separate range.

Parkside (Lidl)

RangeStated voltageWhat fits it
X 20 V TEAM
consumer		20V maxThe whole X 20 V TEAM system, PERFORMANCE range and Smart batteries included. The 40V machines take two batteries.
X 12 V TEAM
compact tools		12V maxThe X 12 V TEAM system. Nothing is published about moving to X 20 V.

The two traps that cost money

Makita LXT and G-Series. Both are 18V, both carry the Makita name. G-Series has its own footprint and Makita declares it not compatible with LXT. Makita is in fact the only brand in this survey to write the incompatibility between its own ranges plainly, and to give the reason: XGT batteries have reinforced sliding rails and a larger contact cross-section than LXT.

Blue Bosch and green Bosch. The blue Professional 18V and the green Home and Garden 18V are two different systems, sold side by side in the same shop. And here is what our survey did not find: no official Bosch page, blue or green, states that these two 18V batteries do not fit each other. Each site describes its own scope without naming the other. The costliest confusion in the aisle is documented nowhere by the maker.

Names that look like a separate range and are not

Good news the other way round: several names that look like a new platform are nothing of the kind. DeWalt POWERSTACK packs are XR 18V batteries. Bosch ProCORE18V and EXPERT belong to the Professional 18V System. Ryobi writes that ONE+ HP is part of the 18V ONE+ concept and takes the same battery. Parkside PERFORMANCE and the Smart batteries stay inside X 20 V TEAM. Milwaukee HIGH OUTPUT and FORGE are M18 packs. These names mean better cells, not a different mount.

The only official bridges between ranges

Across the nine brands surveyed, only two official adapters exist between one maker's own ranges, and neither takes a battery from one voltage to another to power a tool.

  • Makita ADP10 (191C10-7): Puts an LXT 18V battery on an XGT 40V max charger. For charging only: it powers no tool.
  • Metabo 625225000: Fits a slide-on 12V battery to a PowerMaxx machine built for push-in packs. Inside 12V, never up to 18V.

The only real bridge between two ranges is not an adapter, it is a battery: the DeWalt XR FLEXVOLT 54V switches itself to 18V and runs XR 18V tools and chargers. In that direction only: an 18V battery will not run a 54V tool.

What the makers do not say

Charging across ranges is an almost general blind spot. Bosch, Ryobi, Parkside and Metabo publish nothing about it, either way. Milwaukee speaks up, with dual chargers that refill M12 and M18 under a dual compatibility banner: that covers charging only, and an M18 tool still will not take an M12 battery. DeWalt only writes that FLEXVOLT charges on an XR 18V charger.

The mechanical mount itself is described only by Makita and Metabo. For the other seven brands nothing is written, and we do not infer compatibility from a catalogue photograph.

And the chargers?

Frequently asked questions

Will an 18V battery fit an 18V tool from the same brand?

Only if both belong to the same range. At Makita, a G-Series and an LXT are both 18V and do not fit each other. At Bosch, the green and the blue do not either. Voltage says nothing about the mount.

Is there an official adapter between two ranges of one brand?

Two only in this survey, and neither moves a battery from one voltage to another to power a tool: Makita's ADP10, which only lets you charge an LXT battery on an XGT charger, and Metabo's 625225000, which stays inside the 12V class.

Should I avoid brands that sell several ranges?

No, but buy with your eyes open. Einhell sells a single tool system and builds its 36V machines from two 18V batteries; Parkside does the same at 40V. With multi-range brands, the rule is to check the range name on the tool, not the brand and not the voltage.