The Voltage Reality Index
Every mainstream cordless platform is an 18-volt platform. A five-cell lithium-ion pack measures about 20 volts with no load, fresh off the charger, and settles to 18 volts nominal the moment the tool is working. DeWalt and Craftsman label the peak figure; Milwaukee, Makita, Ryobi and Bosch label the nominal one. Same battery class, different marketing convention.
The dataset
| Brand | Marketed label | Nominal under load | Cells | Cell format | Note | Source | Source class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeWalt | 20V MAX | 18 V | 5 | 21700 or 18650 depending on pack | Marketing label uses the no-load peak voltage measured fresh off the charger; DeWalt states the 18 V nominal figure on its own spec sheets. | Manufacturer spec sheet | manufacturer spec |
| Milwaukee | M18 | 18 V | 5 | 18650 (compact) / 21700 (High Output) | Label reports the nominal working voltage directly, so no conversion is needed to compare against DeWalt. | Manufacturer spec sheet | manufacturer spec |
| Makita | 18V LXT | 18 V | 5 | 18650 (most LXT packs) | Label reports nominal voltage directly. | Manufacturer spec sheet | manufacturer spec |
| Ryobi | ONE+ 18V | 18 V | 5 | 18650 (most ONE+ packs) | Label reports nominal voltage directly. Consumer-grade platform, largest tool catalogue. | Manufacturer spec sheet | manufacturer spec |
| Bosch | 18V | 18 V | 5 | 18650 / 21700 depending on pack | Label reports nominal voltage directly. | Manufacturer spec sheet | manufacturer spec |
| Craftsman | V20 | 18 V | 5 | 18650 | Same no-load-peak labelling convention as DeWalt's 20V MAX. | Manufacturer spec sheet | manufacturer spec |
Download
voltage-reality-index.csv (latest) · voltage-reality-index-v1.0.csv (version-pinned, stable for citation)
License: CC BY 4.0 — free to use with attribution, including for commercial and machine-learning use.
How to cite
Torque Lab, “The Voltage Reality Index”, version 1.0, 2026. Available at https://torque-lab.pages.dev/voltage-reality-index/ under CC BY 4.0.
Methodology & versioning
- What is recorded. Each row reports the manufacturer's own published voltage label and the nominal figure for a standard 5-cell lithium-ion pack.
- Why the two numbers differ. Lithium-ion cells rest near 4.0 V off the charger and settle near 3.6 V nominal under load. Five cells therefore read about 20 V unloaded and 18 V working.
- We do not call any label false. Both figures are real measurements of different conditions. The point is that they are not comparable across brands without conversion.
- Cell format varies by pack within a single platform, so it is recorded per platform rather than per tool.
- Versioning. v1.0 published July 30, 2026. The version-pinned CSV will not change; corrections ship as a new version with a dated note here.
This is an equipment-specification reference. We report published manufacturer specifications and clearly-labelled unit conversions; we have not bench-tested any tool.