Hoverboards are a hot item this holiday. Perhaps too hot.
The self-balancing scooters have proved popular with kids and fans of the “Back to the Future” movies, but now shoppers have to reckon with safety concerns after reports that some hoverboards have caught fire. Citing those concerns, airlines banned the boards from planes. Now the scooters are disappearing as well from some Internet retailers’ shelves.
Hoverboards made by Swagway have vanished from Amazon’s site, a development that seems to be related to a safety notice Swagway says it received Friday from the Seattle-based Internet retailer.
“Amazon sent out a notice on Friday just before 5 p.m. PST, to all ‘hoverboard’ sellers to ‘provide documentation demonstrating that all hoverboards you list are compliant with applicable safety standards,'” Swagway said in a statement that noted Amazon expressed concern over potential danger from the hoverboards’ batteries and chargers.
Want to publish your own articles on DistilINFO Publications?
Send us an email, we will get in touch with you.
The reported fires have been linked to overheating of the boards’ lithium ion batteries.
The hoverboards, which despite their name do not really hover, feature two wheels with a platform between them. They landed on the wish lists of many a daredevil this year after celebrities like Justin Bieber and Kendall Jenner posted shots of themselves zipping around (and falling off) the boards. The self-balancing electric scooters appear to be just as hot with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, which said it has received “at least 10” reports of hoverboard fires.
Swagway said that its boards already meet standards and that it has sent the information to Amazon. As of this writing, however, the company’s boards have not returned to Amazon’s site. The South Bend, Indiana-based board maker also said that many hoverboards from other manufacturers also have disappeared from Amazon’s storefront.
While Swagway’s boards are no longer listed on Amazon, models from competitors such as Razor and Jetson still appear there. Boards from IO Hawk and PhunkeeDuck, among other companies, were not listed.
If Amazon is pulling hoverboards over safety concerns, it wouldn’t be the first . Online retailer Overstock.com said Wednesday that it will no longer sell thembecause of safety concerns.
Amazon declined to comment on the boards’ disappearance.
Worries about battery fires have also led to a ban by most major US airlines. American, Delta, Southwest and United said last week that hoverboards are not allowed in carry-on or checked baggage.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has begun investigating whether faulty batteries are responsible for the fires.
“We consider this a priority investigation,” Patty Davis, a spokeswoman for the agency,told CNN. “This is a popular holiday item and it’s going to be in a lot of consumers’ homes, and we’d like to quickly get to the bottom of why some hoverboards catch fire.”
Date: December 14, 2015