Milwaukee attempts to make the leap

One pack is only 18V and to compete with 36, 56/60, or 80V tools, there's gonna be some serious amps involved which means heavier conductors in everything. The pack, the wiring, the motor - all of it. And being a chainsaw means that the sustained loads will not allow electronical witchcraft to cheat a bit and overload components for a limited duration.

At least the dual packs on this unit mean that it's a 36V tool. But forcing dual pack operation has it's drawbacks too as now the packs must be of similar design & capacity, and ideally, age. Mis-matched packs just mean more trouble.

And you can just about buy a complete 501 for what a pair of those XC 8.0 packs cost. ($400)

 

Milwaukee's stubborn strategy of remaining exclusively with 18V (and 12V) batteries has hobbled them a bit, especially for tools that have a high demand for more than a few seconds at a clip. They've publicly committed to their customers that they would maintain backwards and forwards compatibility withing the 18V line, and while that's technically true, it's not so peachy in reality as acceptable performance with certain high-demand tools is only obtained if you use the high-capacity or high-drain capable packs. It's all over their marketing. How many different "flavors" of 18V pack have they introduced? And of course the bundled packs you get with tools are often not the top performing pack for that tool. So naturally your encouraged to buy bigger, better battery packs, or at least forgo the bundled packs, buy bare tools and spend for the better batteries. And of course, the better packs all work with your older 18V tools, but those will get new versions issued with somewhat better specs, to take advantage of those more capable batteries, so you gotta get a better drill/impact/saw/ratchet/etc. Right?

 

That only seems to work when you don't demand the tools be top-tier for performance or stay away from the big-boy stuff altogether. They know their biz, and stay in their lane. I like that.

And they seem to be very happy with the 36V/40V configuration (even for multi-battery capable tools) on all but the very most demanding tools, most of which don't apply to the home-gamer. I like the promise of the XGT system for the semi-pro and professional alike. Yeah, they have some catching up to do with Milwaukee, especially in mechanic's tools. But XGT allows excellent performing small tools like drills, impacts, small to medium saws, etc. and scales up to serious power demands of large saws, demo hammers, (actually useful) blowers and OPE, all using the same batteries. If you want to use HD tools on Milwaukee's platform, you need to invest in the Fuel MX line and they isn't cheap, so not feasible unless you need those tools frequently. And there's nothing in-between for tools that need to be light, but powerful, like chainsaws. Worth mentioning that Makita continues to invest in and release new 18V LXT stuff. I really like some of the sub-compact tools too. I have a sub-compact drill/driver that does 90% of the work around the house and leaves me wanting for nothing. Just wish they had some mechanics tools that were as good as the Milwaukee 12V stuff.

But that's the problem, especially the battery. If you don't have room for those bigger batteries, it won't matter how good the motor and controls are. Also, modular battery packs are actually contributing to the weight/bulk of today's battery chainsaws. Much of that could be mitigated with pouch cells, and integrated battery designs but the user base would be in an uproar if they couldn't remove the battery from the tool to recharge.

Agreed, the fact that the customer base demands backwards compatibility with tools that most of us have stopped using or thrown away years ago HAS to be a massive pain in the arse. Back in the 1990s, the batteries were improving, and every time the battery platform improved (9V -> 12V -> 18V, NiCad -> NiMH -> LiIon) a new generation of tools was released to take advantage of the increased power available. And we bought those tools because there were real gains to be had that made us more productive as tradesmen. OR - as a DIY'r, you stuck with the old battery platform and tools that were serving you just fine and those things were still available a decade or more after the superseding platform arrived. Hell, I think you can still buy OEM 18V XRP packs for Dewalt. Now, a tool evolution is a 5% spec bump, new stripe placement, and a different LED array. But that's not to lose sight of the fact that we can, and do, work 95% cordless in most trades today.