Nearly 501,000 Hoverboards Recalled Over Safety, Fire Hazards

Nearly five months ago, major retailer pulled “hoverboard” scooters from shelves after the Consumer Product Safety Commission said the not-actually-hovering devices were unsafe unless they met certain standards. Now the federal safety agency is announcing an official recall of around 501,000 hoverboards.

The CPSC, along with manufacturers and retailers, agreed to recall the hoverboards over fire hazards posed by the devices’ lithium-ion batter packs, ABC News reports.

According to the CPSC, the lithium-ion battery packs in the self-balancing boards could overheat, start to smoke, catch fire, or lead to an explosion.

“We are urging consumers to act quickly,” CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye told ABC News. “We’ve concluded pretty definitively that these are not safe products the way they were designed.”

Mashable reports that the recalled hoverboards were from several of the largest device makers on the market, including 267,000 Swagway X1, as well as unspecified numbers of models including the Hovertrax from Razor, the Airwalk Self Balancing Electric Scooter, the iMoto, the Hype Roam, the Wheeli, 2Wheelz, Back to the Future, Mobile Tech, Hover Shark, NWS, X Glider, and X Rider.

Additionally, 4,300 boards are being recalled from Overstock.com, while another 1,300 Orbit boards are being recalled from Boscov’s.

The recalled hoverboards were manufactured in China and sold mostly online from June 2015 to May 2016.

Consumers in the U.S. unsure whether or not their hoverboard is part of the recall can call the CPSC consumer hotline at (800) 638-2772.

The official recall of the self-balancing scooters comes after months of back and forth between manufacturers, retailers, and safety officials over the safety of the devices.

Issues with the boards began around the holiday season when many who received the devices as gifts reported they had caught fire or exploded while being plugged in to charge.

In January, the CPSC announced it was investigating 13 hoverboard companies. Engineers with the agency are testing hoverboards – both new models and those involved in fire incidents – at its National Product Testing and Evaluation Center.

A month later, the agency said that over a two-month period it had received reports from consumers in 24 states of self-balancing scooter fires resulting in over $2 million in property damage, including the destruction of two homes and an automobile.

The agency then notified retailers, manufacturers, and importers that self-balancing scooters are not safe unless they meet certain standards set by the Underwriters Laboratory.

Shortly after that, retailers, including Amazon, Target, and Toys ‘R Us, began removing the devices from their physical and online shelves.

CPSC Recalling More Than 500,000 Hoverboards Because of Fire Hazards [ABC News]
500,000 hoverboards officially recalled [Mashable]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist