Investing.com -- More than half a million self-balancing scooters are being recalled in the U.S. amid widespread concerns of overheating from the boards' battery packs, which have led to nearly 100 reports of fire-related incidents over the last year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday.
The recall impacts 10 total companies, including nine based in the U.S. Of the approximate 501,000 units being recalled, more than half are from South Bend, Indiana-based manufacturer Swagway, LLC, related to deficiencies with its X1 Hands-Free Smartboard. Over a seven-month period from September, 2015, through March, 2016, the CPSC received 42 reports of the boards' lithium-ion battery packs smoking, catching fire or exploding, leading to 16 cases of injuries. The incidents led to a variety of neck, leg and arm injuries, as well as severe property damage, the CPSC said in a report.
"Consumer safety remains Swagway's number one priority," the company said in a statement.
Razor, USA and Hoverboard, LLC, two other prominent companies, were also named in Wednesday's report. Razor, which is based in Cerritos, Calif., is recalling 28,000 of their non-UL certified Hovertrax brand scooters. While the CSPC said there were two reports of the companies' hoverboards catching fire, exploding or smoking, there were no reports of injuries or property damage from the product. Hoverboard, LLC, which sold the self-balancing scooters at 35 mall kiosks nationwide and online at Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), is recalling about 70,000 units. The hoverboards, which were sold at a retail price between $350 and $1,000, were responsible for 27 fire-related incidents and one report of property damage, according to the CSPC.
Other companies named in the report include: Hype Wireless of Edison, N.J., Digital Gadgets of Monroe, N.J., PTX Performance of Irvine, Calif., Yuka Clothing of Miami and Keenford Ltd. of Hong Kong. An additional 1,300 scooters at Boscov's of Reading, Pa. and 4,300 hoverboards of Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) are also being recalled. Although Amazon was not mentioned in the report, the company complied with the CPSC in February by offering full refunds for scooters bought on its web site.
"We are urging consumers to act quickly," CPSC chairman Elliot Kaye told ABC News. "We've concluded definitively that these are not safe products the way they are designed."