The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Future Motion Inc. announced Friday the recall of 300,000 of the company's Onewheel Self-Balancing Electric Skateboards following accidents, which involved the deaths of four people.
The Santa Cruz-based company had been warned a year ago by the CPSC to pull the skateboards off the market, but the company resisted, releasing a statement in November 2022 calling the CPSC's allegations "unjustified and alarmist."
But according to the CPSC, "Future Motion has received dozens of reports of incidents involving the electric skateboards, including four reported deaths between 2019 and 2021 and injuries such as traumatic brain injury, concussion, paralysis, upper-body fractures, lower-body fractures and ligament damage."
The four reported deaths were a result of head trauma, according to the CPSC's statement. "In at least three of those incidents, the rider was not wearing a helmet."
The recall is on all Future Motion's models including the original Onewheel, Onewheel+, Onewheel+ XR, Onewheel Pint, Onewheel Pint X, and Onewheel GT.
Though headquartered in Santa Cruz, the electric skateboard company also manufacturers its skateboards in a San Jose factory, at 2250 Zanker Road.
In a statement, Future Motion said, "the skateboards can stop balancing the rider if the boards’ limits are exceeded, posing a crash hazard that can result in serious injury or death."
Future Motion's chief evangelist, Jack Mudd, declined to answer questions from The Verge regarding why the company changed its mind about the recall but did say the company released firmware upgrades for those models which can be upgraded.
The update adds a new warning “Haptic Buzz” feedback which alerts riders via sound and vibration that the skateboard has a low battery, has exceeded safe speeds or is imbalanced. An explainer video is available on YouTube.
Owners can check on the site if their product is eligible for the upgrade by entering their board's serial number. However, owners of the original Onewheel and Onewheel+ are being asked to discard of the skateboard as they cannot be upgraded.
According to The Verge, Mudd said original Onewheel and Onewheel+ owners would receive "pro-rated credit of $100 to the purchase of a new board" if they show proof the old model was discarded. The Business Journal also reached out to Mudd for comment.
Future Motion got its started 10 years ago. Founded and led by inventor Kyle Doerksen, the company has raised $3.2 million in venture capital, according to PitchBook Data.
