STIHL AL 501 Fast Battery Charger

The STIHL AL 501 Fast Battery Charger is a direct replacement for the company’s AL 500 model. It is compatible with STIHL’s AP and AK System batteries, so is suitable for both commercial AND domestic use.

This super-fast STIHL battery charger comes with a sleek, modern design and, unlike other STIHL battery chargers, allows for situational charging through the STIHL Connected App.

Situational Charging with the STIHL Connected App

The key benefit of situational charging is that it allows you to adjust the speed you charge your batteries to suit your own individual requirements at any given time.

In the case of the AL 501 Fast Battery Charger, you can choose between gentle, normal or rapid speeds.

Gentle charging improves the battery’s health and greatly reduces the load on the electrical circuit, so it’s the best possible option for overnight charging, or any other situation where you don’t need your battery-operated STIHL tool immediately.

Normal is the charger’s default setting. It does exactly what you’d expect from a brand-new, leading-edge STIHL battery charger, by charging your battery at a superior speed to older models of STIHL fast battery chargers. This makes normal the best setting when you need your battery charged quickly, but it isn’t absolutely time critical.

(Please note that when not using the STIHL Connected App, batteries are automatically charged at this default normal setting.)

However, if time is of the essence and you really need your STIHL battery charging without delay, turn to rapid charge. The beauty of this feature is that you can get the battery charged on your lunch break, so your battery-powered STIHL tool will be ready to use as soon as you return to work.

How Does This Work in Practice?

To give you an idea of how the rapid charge feature works, let’s use STIHL’s AP 200 S battery as an example.

On the gentle setting, the STIHL AL 501 Fast Battery Charger will fully charge this battery in 80 minutes.

On the default normal setting, the same charge will take 45 minutes.

But using the AL 501 Charger’s rapid setting, it will do the job in just 37 minutes!

With an AP 300 S battery, charge times range from 70 minutes on the gentle setting to 45 minutes on normal and rapid.

Which Batteries Are Compatible with the STIHL Connected App?

STIHL AP 200 S (4850 400 6565) and AP 300 S (4850 400 6585) batteries are now compatible with the STIHL Connected App, so you can already benefit from adapted charging speed times.

This situational charging feature will be extended to other AP batteries by the third quarter of 2025.

How Does the AL 501 Compare to STIHL’s Other Fast Battery Chargers?

As the STIHL AL 501 Fast Battery Charger is a direct replacement for the company’s AL 500 model, the two share similar charging times, although due to new functional safety requirements regarding charging breaks, the 501 will have a slightly longer charging time for backpack batteries. So, to fully appreciate the AL 501’s charging efficiency, let’s compare it to STIHL’s popular AL 301 Battery Charger…

The AL 301 will take 330 minutes to charge an AR 3000 L Backpack Battery to 80% and 430 minutes to fully charge it, while the brand-new AL 501 can charge the same battery to 80% in just 180 minutes and to 100% in 230 minutes.

As another example, the AL 301 can charge an AP 200 Battery to 80% in 40 minutes and 100% in 55 minutes. But when using the AL 501 Battery Charger, the same tasks take only 25 and 35 minutes respectively.

It’s a similar story right across STIHL’s range of AP and AR batteries.

Other Specifications of the STIHL AL 501 Fast Battery Charger

This wall-mountable, high-powered STIHL AL 501 Fast Battery Charger has a charging current (A) of 12, rated current (A) of 2.6, and voltage of 230. It features an LED operating mode indicator and active battery cooling.

To date, it is STIHL’s quickest charger for lithium-ion batteries.

STIHL battery charge times (mins. 80/100%)