Razor Hoverboard Battery Pack Recall Follows Reports of Overheating and Fire

More than 230,000 Hovertrax hoverboards are being recalled due to reports suggesting the lithium-ion battery packs may overheat and catch on fire; which is a problem that has plagued many versions of the self-balancing scooters since they first appeared on the market several years ago.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the Hovertrax 2.0 Self-Balancing/Hoverboards recall on August 25, following at least 20 reports of the GLW battery packs overheating. Some of the reports indicate the packs began smoking or even catching fire, but no injuries have been reported.

Self-balancing scooters, more commonly known as hoverboards, have two wheels at either end of a platform and are powered by lithium-ion battery packs to move forward of backwards. The devices have been deemed hazardous and a hoverboard ban is in place on many models, due to the potential for many of the lithium ion batteries to have been cheaply made and pose overheating risks that can result in fires.

Since 2015, when the devices first gained popularity across the U.S., the CPSC has received more than 100 reports of the lithium-ion battery packs overheating, sparking, smoking, catching fire or exploding. The agency investigated more than 60 hoverboard fires that resulted in injuries for users, including burns to the legs, arms, and neck. The incidents have also caused severe property damage.

This latest hoverboard recall affects removable GLW battery packs which were installed in UL-listed Hovertrax 2.0 brand self-balancing scooters/hoverboards, which were manufactured between September 2016 and August 2017. The Hovertrax hoverboards have two wheels at each end of articulated dual platforms and are powered by a GLW battery pack. The GLW battery pack is a lithium-ion battery and have GLW written with large letters on the pack themselves. The battery packs also have a white sticker with the serial number on the top of the battery pack.

The recall includes an estimated 237,300 units sold in the U.S.

The Razor hoverboards were sold at Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, and other stores nationwide and online at Walmart.com, Amazon.com, and other websites from September 2016 through 2018 for about $460. The hoverboards were manufactured in China and were distributed and imported by Razor USA LLC.

The CPSC is asking owners of the hoverboards to stop using the devices and to contact Razor on how to obtain a prepaid shipping carton to return the GLW battery pack to Razor so they can return a free replacement battery pack.

Lithium-ion Battery Issues

Over the last several years, loosely regulated lithium-ion batteries manufactured without a high degree of quality control have been used to power popular mobile consumer products such as vaping pens, laptop battery packs, flashlights, electric vehicles, cordless tools, and various other devices that require portable power. The CPSC has received an overwhelming amount of adverse events linked to poorly manufactured lithium ion batteries experiencing short circuit and thermal runaway events, resulting in hundreds of serious injuring, some of which requiring hospitalization and even resulting in death.

In July 2016, the CPSC issued a nationwide hoverboard recall of more than 500,000 units after continuing to receive reports of imported lithium ion battery power hoverboards catching on fire. Following the recall, the U.S. International Trade Commission issued an order banning unlicensed hoverboards from being imported into the U.S. to prevent cheaply made lithium ion batteries from causing injuries and property damage to consumers.

In 2017, the CPSC issued a hoverboard warning to parents and owners to verify whether their children are in possession of one of the recalled devices after a three year old girl from Pennsylvania was killed in a house fire. According to the CPSC report, Ashanti Hughes, 3, died on March 11, 2017 in her Harrisburg, Pennsylvania home after a hoverboard caught of fire. Another girl in the home was reported to have suffered severe burns to over 95 percent of her body due to the incident.

Consumers with questions about this latest recall can contact Razor by calling 866-467-2967, or by visiting the website at www.Razor.com and clicking on CPSC Safety Recalls for more information.