In North Suburban Lab, Exploding Hoverboards All In A Day's Work
NORTHBROOK, Ill. (CBS) -- Over half a million hoverboards were sold in the last quarter of 2015, but fires and explosions are raising causes for concern.
CBS 2's Vince Gerasole went into the Northbrook labs of Underwriters Laboratories as their engineers look for answers.
One of the hottest gifts this past holiday season is frequently on fire. To date, 52 cases of hoverboards spontaneously bursting into flames have been reported in 24 states.
It's cause for concern for the engineers at Northbrook-based Underwriters Laboratories who rate product safety worldwide.
"We know this is a counterfeit hoverboard," said UL's John Drengenberg. "It uses a UL mark and it's never been tested."
You may have just one lithium ion battery in your cell phone, but hoverboards are powered by as many as two dozen bundled together. In UL's battery lab, engineers pierced a single counterfeit battery with a nail.
"What you just saw there, that explosion, multiply that by 24 cells in the battery pack of a hoverboard," said Barbara Guthrie.
If a certified battery explodes, the pieces should not become projectiles. In one test pieces were hurled far beyond a safe distance.
While the technology has been around for a while, Drengenberg says we could be seeing problems now, "Because it's a new application. Here you've got a much bigger package of batteries."
"We have to make sure innovation and safety go hand in and with the hoverboard it got ahead of itself," Guthrie said.
To date not a single manufacturer of hoverboards has come forward for UL certification. The U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission in an unusual step is now strongly suggesting they do so.
