On April 16th 2017 early Sunday morning a hoverboard battery exploded in the Tri-Cities WA area. A man who is yet unnamed was the unfortunate victim of this terrible explosion. It happend as he was changing the battery in the scooter device. The man sustained sever burn injuries covering over 50% of his body. We have no word on his current condition.
The NBC editorial found here covering this story was once again lacking in many key important elements about the incident. NBC opted instead to re-hash the same old sensationalized bad inaccurate reporting style of many others in the past. The way this was reported on is disgraceful to say the least, and a dis-service to the public.
For example they fail to say which brand or company the board was from. They fail to mention if the battery came with the device, or if it was purchased separately from somewhere else. They fail to mention if the scooter was UL 2272 certified. In other words they failed to mention even one thing that consumers needed to know to prevent it from happening again. They mentioned to buy scooters that meet “government standards” but failed to mention what those are or how to find out. And worst of all instead of accurately reporting WHY this hoverboard exploded NBC crafted the story to make it seem like all hoverboards are dangerous and will explode. Nothing could be farther from the truth and they should be ashamed for distorting the truth in this way once again.
Stories like this NBC report mentioned above are not intended to give people actionable accurate information that people can use to protect themselves. They are just capitalizing on an unfortunate incident to get more ratings. As we mentioned many times before there are devices that explode on a regular basis for ANY type of electronic product that uses lithium ion batteries. Virtually all battery powered electronics use lithium ion batteries. This includes cell phones, lap tops, watches, and the recent electronic cigarettes craze. With any type of electronic product there are cheap dangerous knock offs. And then there are high quality well made products that will not explode if they are cared for and treated properly. So to single out hoverboards as being more dangerous than other electronics is simply not true. It is not the type of product that is more dangerous. It is who makes that product and what kind of parts they use to make it.
Chances are high that the Tri-Cities hoverboard that exploded was not a tested and certified UL 2272 hoverboard. It was probably made of cheap parts from China and should not have been allowed to be sold in the first place.
Similar Dangerous Hoverbaords Are Still Being Sold
Despite all the hoverboard explosions and fires since 2015 there is somehow still a very large amount of scooter products on market that are untested and dangerous hoverboard brands. These are being sold all over the world (and especially in the US).
We also noticed a disturbing trend of many scooter companies selling a select number of UL 2272 certified hoverboards mixed in with non-certified products. This can confuse consumers to trust that all the products from te company are UL 2272 certified. As a consumer you need to be aware of these facts and stay away from these types of products. DO NOT BUY A HOVERBOARD THAT IS NOT UL 2272 CERTIFIED! Check our article here on how to tell if the certification claim is real.
This is one of the reasons we created Hoverboards Electric review website. It is to help people avoid dangerous cheap scooters, of which there are many. The 2 wheel standing scooters we promote are all tested and UL certified because we see reports of this all the time. We don’t want the same thing to happen to you or your family.
This is a story we keep seeing over and over again like a broken record playing. Some people never learn and don’t take advice about the dangers of cheap hoverboards that are not UL 2272 certified.
Or worse still unethical companies continue getting away with selling uncertified hoverboards that use cheap dangerous parts. Please see our extensive explanation on why hoverboards are catching fire exploding found here.
Don’t Shop For the Cheapest Scooter
So if are you someone who is always looking to the cheapest priced product and you want to buy the cheapest hoverboard STOP NOW! A hoverboard is not an item where you should be looking for the cheapest price.
Low priced hoverboards are almost certainly made of substandard batteries and parts that will eventually fail, potentially with catastrophic consequences. We urge you to do yourself a huge favor and look for reasonably priced well tested scooters that have proven safety certification.
Throw Your Dangerous Hoverboards in the Garbage
If you have already bought a hoverboard that is not UL 2272 certified we strongly urge you to throw it in the garbage right now. DO NOT try to sell it on Craigslist or Ebay. Do not try to give it away. Doing so is putting other people’s lives and property at risk. Many people are reselling their old hoverboards and those are exploding with the new owners. Properly dispose of it at your local refuse center for recycling of the battery and electronics. Please do not throw the battery directly in your home garbage because the chemicals from the batteries will leak out into the ground and pollute the surrounding area.
Go here for some of our top rated reviews of UL 2272 safety certified hoverboards.
