A reader (thank you Cody!) tipped us off that Ridgid has redesigned their compact 18V 1.5Ah battery. This isn’t just a styling update, but an entire redesign of the battery pack.
The most noticeable differences are to the battery fuel gauge, the battery latch release buttons, and the labeling, but the entire housing has been redesigned – and likely the internal arrangements as well.
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In my opinion, based on appearances alone, the new battery packs are an upgrade, although that might not be the case.
Surprisingly, the new Ridgid 18V battery design has a lot less orange color accenting than the previous iterations.
Additionally, the primary color looks to be a darker grey than before, or even black.
You might recognize the new batteries from Ridgid’s SubCompact cordless power tool lineup, which launched last April. There are only a few differences between those batteries and these, mainly minor styling changes such as the addition of Ridgid branding at the front of the battery.
Basically, Ridgid overhauled their compact battery design for the SubCompact platform, and now the same battery design seems to be seeing a broader release.
Ridgid isn’t the only brand overhauling their batteries – Ryobi has done the same for their compact 18V batteries as well:
Ridgid and Ryobi cordless power tools are all designed by TTI North America.
Ridgid has also redesigned their 18V 4.0Ah battery as well.
There is no indication that their other battery pack sizes will also be updated, such as their 5Ah and 9Ah batteries.
It’s uncertain as to whether Ridgid will update their other 18V Li-ion batteries, as the compact 3Ah, 5Ah, 6Ah, and 9Ah batteries all feature similar features and functions.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Ridgid’s 1.5Ah, 2.0Ah, and 4.0Ah batteries were based on a common form factor, while the compact 3.0Ah, 5.0Ah, 6.0Ah, and 9.0Ah batteries retained their current appearances or were updated in a different shared manner.
Buy Now: Ridgid Batteries via Home Depot
Why Does This Matter?
That’s a good question, and one I don’t have an immediate answer for.
Ryobi’s new compact batteries are a little more compact, and they also added in a battery fuel gauge. I would guess that the new batteries might be a little more compact, seeing as how the new compact battery geometry launched alongside the new SubCompact tools, but I can’t say for certain.
Ridgid’s new batteries have a larger battery fuel gauge than before, and it looks like the side latch buttons are more accessible. Is there more to it?
I always liked the look of Ridgid’s 18V batteries, or at least I found them inoffensive, but the new styling looks a little more streamlined.
Was this a cost-cutting measure?
None of the new SKUs are available for sale yet, and so Ridgid might communicate more about these batteries later.
It’s also possible that the new battery SKUs aren’t necessarily replacing the existing battery SKUs, but it doesn’t make sense for Ridgid to maintain different product lines and different SKUs for batteries of the same size and charge capacity. I would expect this to be the new styling, at least for the 1.5Ah, 2.0Ah, and 4.0Ah batteries shown here.
