Why hoverboards explode
Why hoverboards explode
February 24, 2016 by
Thea Singer
Northeastern research professor K.M. Abraham goes inside the self-balancing scooters to reveal the science behind their combustion. Image source: YouTube/BuleBritish
On Thursday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a
letter to hoverboard manufacturers, importers, and retailers warning that devices that dont meet new safety standards could be detained, seized, or recalled.
The letter followed reports to the CPSC from people in 24 states of 52 hoverboard fires resulting in more than $2 million in property damage over an 11-week period.
K.M. Abraham, research professor at Northeasterns Center for Renewable Energy Technologies, penned a technical
commentary for the Electrochemical Society on why hoverboards are exploding and what role the lithium-ion batteries powering them play in their combustion.
We asked him to take us under the hood, so to speak, to break down the science and explain why devices such as smartphones and laptops, which use the same battery technology, arent experiencing the same explosive problems.
The CPSC letter