The search behavior around vaping is moving in a direction that the retail sales charts are yet to show. Americans are searching for reusable vape devices almost as often as the disposable devices that still dominate store shelves, and the gap between the two is closing in years.
A new analysis of US search data by Pen Vape Discountan online retailer specializing in 510-thread rechargeable cartridge batteries found that the term “510 thread battery” now has about 30,500 search hits in the US, up from about 29,500 clicks for “disposable vape” alone. Interest in the term reusable is up nearly 20% from 2021, while searches for disposable vapes are down nearly 36% from their peak in 2022. In 2022, Americans searched about 2.4 times more for disposables than for 510-thread batteries; by 2025 this ratio will decrease to 1.46 to one.
For the sane reader, the most interesting part of this shift isn’t the battery itself, but rather what it means for the battery once it’s out of the box and into everyday use. A disposable vape is a disposable device with a small lithium-ion battery sealed inside that is discarded after a few hundred puffs. A study from PIRG found that millions of these devices are thrown away every week in the US, each containing a battery that should not go in the household waste. The 510’s reusable system requires the opposite habit: charge it, refill the cartridge, and use the same hardware for months.
“People don’t usually think of the switch to reusable hardware as a health choice, but it fits in the same mold as many other swaps where people are paying attention to what they’re consuming and throwing away,” said James Smith, head of the vaping community at Discount Vape Pen. “It’s less packaging, less battery waste, and one less thing you have to buy again every week.”
There is also a safety dimension to the hardware question, and it is closer to a health story than an environmental story. The CDC notes that defective e-cigarette batteries have caused fires and explosions, some of which have resulted in serious injuries, and most of these incidents occurred while the battery was being charged. One-off is designed to be cheap and short-lived, and has little incentive for the kind of battery quality control the device needs to last months. The 510 battery, once bought and taken care of, is a different approach to hardware, and for anyone who already thinks about vaping as they think about any other home appliance, this is a practical option to talk about safety.
Retail numbers tell yet another story. Data compiled for the CDC Foundation estimates that by mid-2024, 58.1% of U.S. e-cigarette unit sales will double their share in early 2020, and CDC surveillance data has consistently found single-use devices among people who vape. Enforcement is part of it: The FDA has approved only a small fraction of the thousands of e-cigarette products on the market, and enforcement actions against unlicensed single-use brands have increased sharply in the past two years. The search demand for a reusable alternative increased around the same period.
“People who buy disposables aren’t necessarily tied to a format, they’re often buying things they’ve had in the past,” Smith said. “When a favorite one-time item runs out of stock, or someone really spends every month, that’s usually the point where they look for something they can refill instead.”
There’s also a household budget angle here, even if it’s more relaxed about the environment and safety. A one-time purchase is a repeat purchase; the 510 battery is a one-time cost that can then be paired with cheaper refill cartridges over months of use. For anyone who considers spending as part of a broader wellness habit, along with things like meal planning or reducing subscriptions, this is the kind of swap that doesn’t pay off all at once.
For readers unfamiliar with the terminology, a “510 thread” battery is simply a charging handle with a standard screw connection, named after the thread size, that accepts a wide range of cartridges and containers. The complaint is less about any particular device and more about the model behind it: buy the hardware once, then just replace the part that wears out. This different relationship with products is made from the disposable cycle, and it’s part of a trend that resonates outside the vaping world as well, just as people have gravitated toward refillable water bottles or rechargeable batteries over their throwaway equivalents in other categories.
Disposable products aren’t going to disappear from the shelves anytime soon, and search interest alone doesn’t prove that a mass transition has already happened. But a trend that has been going on for several years and moving in one continuous direction while the sales data shows the opposite is nothing. It comes from the fact that among people actively researching instead of taking whatever is on the counter, the reusable case is gaining traction.
Search numbers are US estimates derived from Ahrefs Keywords Explorer search volume data
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