The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced a recall of 300,000 Onewheel Self-Balancing Electric Skateboards in cooperation with Future Motion Inc., based in Santa Cruz, California. The recall comes in response to safety concerns, as these skateboards can cease to balance the rider if the board’s limits are exceeded, posing a significant crash hazard that can result in serious injury or even death.
Future Motion has reported numerous incidents involving these electric skateboards, including four tragic fatalities that occurred between 2019 and 2021. Injuries associated with these incidents include traumatic brain injuries, concussions, paralysis, upper-body fractures, lower-body fractures, and ligament damage. It’s worth noting that in at least three of the reported deaths, the riders were not wearing helmets.
To address this safety issue, consumers who own the Onewheel GT, Onewheel Pint X, Onewheel Pint, or Onewheel+ XR electric skateboards are advised to take the following actions:
Immediately discontinue using the recalled Onewheel electric skateboards.
Download or update the Onewheel app and use it to update the firmware on your board to include Haptic Buzz alert functionality. Haptic Buzz is a tactile and audible warning system designed to alert the rider with a buzzing sensation and sound when approaching the board’s limits or when experiencing low battery or error states.
The firmware update for the Onewheel GT will be available within one week, while updates for the Pint X, Pint, and XR models will be released within six weeks.
Consumers who own the Original Onewheel or Onewheel+ models should visit recall.onewheel.com to arrange for a pro-rated refund, provided they confirm disposal of the product. The refund will be issued in the form of a store credit.
The recall encompasses all models of Future Motion Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards, including Onewheel (original), Onewheel+, Onewheel+ XR, Onewheel Pint, Onewheel Pint X, and Onewheel GT. The model name can be found on the side of the skateboard, and the Onewheel logo is printed on the rail of the skateboards.
These recalled Onewheel Electric Skateboards were sold online at onewheel.com and various other websites, as well as at independent retail stores nationwide from January 2014 through September 2023, with prices ranging from $1,050 to $2,200. All of the products were manufactured in the United States.