Leading manufacturers Bosch, Fein and Rothenberger have launched a new battery alliance, named ‘AmpShare – powered by Bosch’, to offer a battery system for trade professionals which encompasses a total of 200+ tools from more than 25 brands.
The new AmpShare battery alliance — spearheaded by founding members Bosch, Fein and Rothenberger — has been developed to “advance the shared vision of its founders and members to offer professional users the best and widest 18V system, with full compatibility across numerous brands, applications, and countries”.
Professionals can already use more than 200 tools from a large number of leading brands with the same 18V battery. Indeed, with the establishment of the new alliance, the multi-brand battery system will grow to include more than 25 manufacturers. And by the end of next year, the plan is to have a range of more than 300 compatible tools, including 50 new 18V tools from Bosch Professional alone.
Said to offer tradespeople a wider range of applications than before with just one common battery platform, users will be able to save “money, space, and time” whilst also contributing towards greater sustainability since they will require fewer batteries and chargers overall.
Henk Becker, President of Bosch Power Tools, said: “Thanks to AmpShare, the cordless construction site is becoming a reality for professionals. Work is becoming easier, more flexible and more efficient. In this multi-brand alliance, we’re bringing together all our performance — Amp — and pushing forward our vision of a universal battery system through the ‘sharing’ of one battery and one logo across all brands.”
A major advantage for users is that the already more than 80 million Bosch Professional batteries bought since 2008 will stay compatible. They can still be used with every professional tool from Bosch — and with every tool in the AmpShare alliance in the future — because the brand’s underlying battery technology remains at the heart of the system.
According to Dr. Christoph Weiss, CEO of Fein, the establishment of the battery alliance represents another milestone in its collaboration with Bosch. He said: “In 2016, we jointly developed the Starlock System for universal tool mounting with multitools. By founding the AmpShare alliance, we are reinforcing this decision and supporting our shared vision — to one day be able to operate all tools, no matter from which manufacturer, with just one battery.
“In addition to our Multimasters, we will be adapting the entire 18V portfolio at Fein to the AmpShare interface to make our customers’ daily work easier.”
Dr. Christian Heine, CEO of Rothenberger, continued: “We believe both in system solutions and in the cordless construction site — and a multi-brand battery system with a long range combines both! So, we have decided to bring all our battery-powered products into the AmpShare universe.”
Beyond its three founding partners, the AmpShare alliance encompasses expertise from a broad base of leading businesses with other well-known signatories including fixing technology specialist Fischer; PerfectPro, a leading producer of construction site radios; and Rexroth, a specialist in reliable tightening solutions. More brands are said to be “still to come”.
In addition to full compatibility with all Bosch Professional 18V products since 2008, the alliance will facilitate the use of “unique CoolPack battery technology” for longer runtimes and service life in addition to the high-performance ProCore18V batteries — reportedly, Bosch’s most powerful batteries thanks to their innovative cell technology and offering “the fastest charging time on the market”.
Click here for more information about AmpShare ‒ powered by Bosch.
See below to watch a short video on the Bosch Professional YouTube channel about the new battery platform alliance:
A founding partner of the new battery platform partnership, Fein says that migrating MultiMaster over to AMPShare will enable the manufacturer to “continue keeping its primary focus on developing market leading power tools that provide innovative and efficient solutions for end users”. Furthermore, due to an enhanced power source, the battery platform will ensure the high performance of the tools, enabling them to operate at maximum efficiency.
Andy Mills, Managing Director of Fein UK, said: “This is an incredibly exciting move for us, which will strengthen our 18v cordless portfolio. We understand that our end users want the freedom to choose the best tool for the job, rather than being tied into a single manufacturer’s battery platform. By making our original multi-tool available on the AMPShare platform, we are opening this product up to 60 million+ batteries on the market.
“It also means we can get back to doing what we do best, which is focusing on developing the next generation of power tools to revolutionise the way those across the construction, trades and metalworking sectors work.”
With AMPShare powering the 18v MultiMaster 500 and 700 series, the range continues to be compatible with a total of 180 accessories, enabling end users to complete a range of jobs with just one tool. Extra versatility is also assured due to compatibility with Starlock, Starlock plus and Starlock Max accessories.
Click or tap the link for further information on Fein.
