Lime, a San Francisco-based dockless e-scooter and bike company, released a statement on Tuesday that officials recalled thousands of scooters this summer in deployed cities following a hardware defect that could cause some scooters to catch on fire.
According to the Washington Post, the company released a statement about the defect following questions from the media outlet about scooters catching on fire.
The company, which launched a fleet of scooters in Atlanta this summer, discovered one of the manufacturers, Segway Ninebot, had a battery defect that would cause the scooter to smolder or burst into flames. Less than 0.01 percent of Lime's scooter fleet has been effected by the combustable battery issue, according to company representatives.
"In August of this year, we learned of a potential issue with some Ninebot scooter batteries," the company wrote in a statement. "The issue arose in one of the two batteries housed on early versions of the scooter; in several isolated instances, a manufacturing defect could result in the battery smoldering or, in some cases, catching fire."
After learning about the defect, Lime reports it identified potential faulty scooters with a Segway Ninebot software program, deactivated them and took them out of circulation. Scooters were removed in Los Angeles, San Diego and Lake Tahoe.
"At no time were riders or members of the public put at risk," the company wrote. "Unfortunately, despite our efforts, we’ve recently received an unconfirmed report that another Segway Ninebot scooter model may also be vulnerable to battery failure, which we are currently investigating."
Atlanta Inno spoke with PIO officer Sgt. Cortez Stafford with the Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department Wednesday morning, who said the agency has not responded to any e-scooter fires to his knowledge. Stafford said it's possible that small fires could have occurred and been put out by riders without ever calling the fire department.
"I don't have any on record," he said.
Lime representatives did not respond to inquiries about recalling scooters or scooters catching fire in Atlanta before deadline on Wednesday.
The company reports all Segway Ninebot scooters will now only be charged at Lime's scooter storage facilities, which will be staffed 24/7 by employees specially trained for the safe handling of these batteries, and started a new daily diagnostic testing program for all scooters, regardless of the manufacturer, in all markets to monitor batteries.
In addition to the flamable battery issue, Lime reported it was addressing another hardware issue where several baseboards by manufacturer Okai reportedly break when abused.
"As part of our scooter deployment process, we conduct rigorous stress and safety testing on all models, including the Okai model in use," the company wrote. "We also consistently and thoroughly educate our riders on the correct and safest ways to ride. Nevertheless, it’s possible for Okai baseboards to crack or break if ridden off a curb at high speed. We are currently studying this issue and incorporating these learnings into our design process. Scooters are a new mode of transportation and Lime, together with the micro-mobility industry, remains committed to ensuring everyone knows how to ride safely."
Lime will be announcing initiatives in the next coming weeks about establishing itself as a safe, smart micro-mobility innovation and technology company.
"Lime takes full responsibility for our scooters," the company wrote. "The safety of our riders, Juicers and community is our highest priority, and we will continue to hold our equipment manufacturers and ourselves to the highest possible standard."
