Good tips. Here's my two cents based on 30 or so years.
I used to do a lot more carpentry & shop stuff than I have in recent years. But I'll still go at it hard for 4-8 hours several days in a row.
I own a Makita 9.6 volt that is more than 20 years old, 12v and 18 volt both at least 5 years old.
The 9.6 is the only one I use frequently. The other two always seem dead, the batteries are expensive....
Talking with my tool repair guy a few years back, he told me that the 9.6 volts were better unless I was doing something heavy duty, like hogging out a few large hole in joists to run drain line.
My current typical method, including setting up kayak form stations, is to have a drill/countersink in the 9.6 volt and use a corded 3/8" drill with a Phillips head (or if I'm doing a lot of screws I'll pull out my 35 year old screw gun, that's needed one, maybe two, switches in all that time. I replaced the cord with a 25' cord--which I recommend. I did this with a skill saw and didn't suffer plug pull out--until it was stolen.)
The batteries I've used were nicad and lithium ion, the tools however seem more of a factor.

If I were to buy a new cordless I'd look at Driver-Drills, they are more efficient than the drill only types. The critical factor would be actual tests between models. How many screws, how durable, etc....

I was looking at getting a Driver Drill, but because I'm not a heavy user I looked for one with a cord. They seem very expensive. All batteries die over time a cord is near 100 percent reliable forever. If I went back into construction, replacing batteries every year would be reasonable. Building kayaks? I'm either near an outlet, have extensions or I'd use my 9.6 v.
I was told once that I should expect batteries to last about a year, whether I used the tool or not. I'm not entirely sure about this, but I do know my 12 and 18 volt drills seem to be always dead and when charged don't last long and won't hold a charge.
(the 12v and 18 v even when I had two batteries and a fast charger always died before the second battery was charged-leaving a very annoying gap in my work session.