Even if you’re relatively brand-loyal, it doesn’t take long for your shop or truck to get overrun by battery chargers. And, if you’re not brand-loyal, you could very quickly require a new workbench just to store all the chargers. Even within a single brand you can accumulate multiple chargers for the different voltages, both legacy and recent releases. Don’t worry, Milwaukee feels your pain and recently released the 48-59-1812 M18 and M12 Multi-Voltage Combo Charger. While it’s still not the Holy Grail of a universal charger that handles charging any cordless tool battery (are any manufacturers listening?), it does take what used to be two separate chargers and put them into one more compact unit.
A couple things to note about the charger, which Milwaukee sent our way to review. It charges sequentially, in the order you insert the batteries. This means if you’ve managed to deplete all your 12v and 18v Milwaukee M batteries and are dead-set on double-fisting both an M12 and M18 tool at the same time, you might be a little disappointed. For the rest of us, the sequential charging is likely only a minor, if any, inconvenience. If you’re in a hurry for either the 12v or 18v, just make sure you insert the one you need most into the charger first.
If you’re tired of battery chargers taking over your life, you can find the Milwaukee 48-59-1812 M18 and M12 Multi-Voltage Combo Charger for around $60 on Amazon.
I bought the FUEL 1/2″ drill and the compact 1/4″ hex impact driver and got 2 chargers and 2 bonus batteries in the deal. One hangs on the wall in the shop and the other travels with me if I am working away. I can charge my M12 drill driver batteries and my M18 batteries so I take just one charger on the road.