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Apr 30, 2023

U.S. Recalls 53,000 Hoverboards After Reports of Fires

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Examples include the hoverboard burning, sparking or melting. A fire marshal said one hoverboard was the "point of origin" of a fire that killed two girls in Pennsylvania last year.

By McKenna Oxenden

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled about 53,000 Jetson hoverboards this week, after numerous reports that they had caught fire. Last year in Pennsylvania, a fire marshal found that a hoverboard was the "point of origin" of a house fire that killed two sisters, although the cause remains undetermined, the recall notice said.

The hoverboard model in question, manufactured by Jetson Electric Bikes, is the 42-volt Jetson Rogue. The agency said the hoverboard's lithium-ion battery pack could overheat and create a fire hazard. The product was sold in Target stores nationwide from August 2018 to June 2019 and online from January 2019 to November 2021 for about $100 to $150.

Jetson said in a statement on Thursday that it was cooperating with the agency and voluntarily recalling the products.

The commission and the company are encouraging customers to stop using and charging the hoverboards immediately and to contact Jetson for a full refund.

The Rogue hoverboard has two wheels with hubcaps that light up and are sold in black, blue, red, pink and purple. The hoverboard also has a black platform with "Jetson" printed on the side of its body and on the product's footpads.

Boards with a bar code next to their serial number or those with a charging port that only has one pin are excluded from the recall.

There have been numerous reports of the hoverboard burning, sparking or melting, the commission said.

In one case cited by the commission, a fire in Hellertown, Pa., killed a 10-year-old girl and her 15-year-old sister on April 1, 2022. Though the cause remains undetermined, the commission said that the Hellertown Borough marshal concluded that a Jetson hoverboard was the "point of origin of the fire."

The family sued Jetson and Walmart in September, saying the hoverboard they purchased as a Christmas gift in 2018 had a "defective and unreasonably dangerous design. The lawsuit also states that manufacturer knew or should have known that it could short-circuit and cause fires while charging, according to The Morning Call of Allentown, Pa.

Customers affected by the recall should contact Jetson and follow instructions to submit photographs of the hoverboard's serial number, charger, purchase date to receive their refund. They should also submit confirmation of disposal of the hoverboard, in accordance with state or local ordinances for lithium-ion batteries.

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article referred imprecisely in one reference to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's account of the fatal Pennsylvania fire. While a fire marshal found that a Jetson hoverboard was the "point of origin of the fire," the cause remains undetermined, the commission said.

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McKenna Oxenden is a breaking news reporter and a member of the 2022-2023 New York Times fellowship class. @mack_oxenden

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