No. Craftsman V20 and Black+Decker 20V MAX POWERCONNECT batteries are not interchangeable — and this pairing is the strangest case on this site, because everything that looks like a compatibility signal actually lines up. Same parent company. Similar “20V MAX” labels. Even the same stated voltage class. And still, neither brand’s own documentation ever claims the batteries connect.
Start with ownership: Stanley Black & Decker owns both Craftsman and Black+Decker, which is exactly why shoppers expect one battery to serve both logos — the same assumption this site has already had to untangle for DeWalt vs Craftsman and DeWalt vs Black+Decker. Then look at the voltage labeling, because it matches almost word for word. Craftsman’s V20 System page footnotes that its “20V MAX” battery has a “maximum initial battery voltage (measured without a workload)” of 20 volts and a nominal voltage of 18. Black+Decker’s own BCD382DS1 drill driver kit page now carries nearly identical wording — maximum initial 20 volts, nominal 18. Two sibling brands describing their packs in exactly the same terms.
Now read what each brand says its battery actually works with, because this is where the overlap ends. Craftsman describes “just one battery system” — the CRAFTSMAN V20 System, with “over 100 different products” sharing it. That system’s batteries come in Everyday DIY capacities of 2.0Ah and 4.0Ah, a 9.0Ah Most Runtime pack for bigger outdoor work, and V20 ADVANCED Max Power batteries at 3.0Ah and 6.0Ah. Every amp-hour of that lineup powers Craftsman V20 tools; nothing in Craftsman’s description reaches beyond its own platform name.
Black+Decker tells the mirror-image story. Its POWERCONNECT battery, per the BCD382DS1 product page, is “compatible with all 20V MAX* power tools, home cleaning, lawn and garden products” — meaning Black+Decker’s own tool, vacuum, and yard line-up. The kit itself shows what that ecosystem looks like in practice: a drill driver with 398 in-lbs (45nm) of maximum torque, ten clutch positions plus an extra drilling position, two speed settings, a keyless 1/2-inch single-sleeve chuck, an LED work light, and a state-of-charge indicator on the included 20V MAX 2.0 Ah battery. A complete, self-supporting family of tools built around Black+Decker’s own packs — with no slot in the story for anyone else’s battery, sibling brand or not.
The platform names themselves are the quiet tell. Craftsman brands its system “CRAFTSMAN V20”; Black+Decker brands its system “20V MAX POWERCONNECT.” Sibling companies leaning on similar “20V MAX” marketing language while giving their ecosystems entirely different names — and neither platform name shows up anywhere in the other brand’s own documentation. Convergence in advertising, separation in engineering.
Practical takeaway
Matching parent company, matching labels, matching 18-volt-nominal footnotes — none of it adds up to a cross-brand battery. Craftsman V20 and Black+Decker 20V MAX POWERCONNECT are separate systems requiring separate batteries and chargers, and neither manufacturer claims otherwise anywhere on its pages. Treat the identical labels as sibling-brand marketing convergence, not an interchangeability statement: buy the battery that carries the same brand as the tool, and both systems will take care of you within their own lines.
How this was checked
Facts on this page are drawn from Craftsman’s own V20 System page and Black+Decker’s own BCD382DS1 20V MAX* POWERCONNECT drill driver kit page.
Sources checked: 2026-08-23. A new review date will only be set after the linked pages are re-checked.