The second-generation Boosted board has run into trouble.
Following two known incidents where the electric skateboard’s lithium-ion battery seriously overheated, the company has told users to stop riding and charging the device until its engineering team has worked out the precise cause of the failures. It’s also decided to suspend shipments of the board until further notice.
In a post outlining the issue, Boosted said the overheating of the battery, which is located beneath the board inside a fire-retardant enclosure, had not led to any injuries or property damage.
As a precautionary measure, the Palo Alto-based company urged current users to “store them away from anything flammable until we complete our investigation,” adding, “If you don’t have a convenient place to store your board, you may optionally remove the battery.”
It told owners of the board to contact the company without delay if they’ve noticed any abnormalities with the battery, and in such cases to hand the faulty unit to its investigators.
“We are working non-stop to diagnose this issue and resolve it for all our riders,” Boosted said on its website. “We appreciate how incredibly disappointing this is for many of our riders, and we ask that you follow our safety recommendations immediately until we complete our investigation.”
The problem is reminiscent of the one that affected hoverboards at the start of the year, though in that case there were a slew of much more serious incidents involving devices made by a range of manufacturers.
The original Boosted board was born out of a Kickstarter campaign, with the first units shipping a couple of years ago. The second-generation device – the one currently experiencing issues – rolled out earlier this year with three variants priced between $1,000 and $1,500.
With its top speed of 22 mph and an 8 mile range, as well as its light weight, wireless control and cool design, the board quickly caught the attention of folks looking for an easy ride they can take anywhere.
Popular YouTube vlogger Casey Neistat, for one, is a big fan of the board, with many of his videos showing him hurtling along the busy streets of New York City between various appointments.
The warning notice from Boosted is sure to come as a big disappointment to its customers, but hopefully the company can sort out the issue soon so those wheels can start turning again.
