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Hoverboard debacle launches Consumer Product Safety Commission investigation

Hoverboards are the hot gift this holiday season. Perhaps too hot, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

By Adam Minter | Updated on December 16, 2015
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver B.J. Daniels rides an electric self-balancing scooter commonly called a "hoverboard," as he arrives for an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)

(Bloomberg View) — Hoverboards are the hot gift this holiday season. Perhaps too hot, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In recent weeks, the commission has received at least 10 reports of the motorized, self-balancing scooters bursting into flames; new reports are “increasing daily.” In response, Amazon has de-listed most hoverboards, and airlines are banning them from planes. Under fire, the commission’s launched an immediate investigation.

Inspectors won’t have to look far for answers. As Wired reported last week, many cheap, no-name hoverboards (some of them costing less than $200) are packed with low-end, Chinese-made batteries with a propensity to ignite. That’s a problem for Americans who economized on their hoverboard purchase. But it’s an even bigger problem for Chinese manufacturers as they struggle to overcome a reputation for turning out shoddy products. At a time when the government is spending handsomely to improve the standards of Chinese manufacturing, the hoverboard debacle is an opportunity to take stock.

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