I have had a DeWalt 24v rock drill for many years and was a bit concerned that it would be less powerful but am pleasantly surprised that it actually does their large surpasses brother. Part of that is the lithium ion battery and I love the fact that I can use the batteries I have for all my other 18v DeWalt products. Recent side-by-side testing of 3/4-inch diameter rebar holes in 6-inch deep rock showed that the 18-volt rock drill drilled faster (with the same drill bit) and with more holes per charge (3 vs. 2 on average for model). 24 volts). Smaller, lighter, cheaper and works better than the next size up, what's not to like? One caveat: DeWalt doesn't make it clear that they have 2 different types of 18V Li-Ion batteries and for this drill you need the more expensive and powerful ones.