Hoverboards: Future Or Failure?

Slightly over thirty years ago, the world was astonished at the digital effects used on the movie “Back to The Future Part II”. People gasped at the sight when young Marty Mcfly (Michael J. Fox) floated around on his futuristic hoverboard. Now, in 2016, hoverboards are fairly common; however, they don’t actually hover.

Todays “Hoverboards” are simply an electric powered gyroscopically balanced scooter, made from technology similar to a Segway. They were some of the hottest, most requested items of the Christmas season for 2015, with more than 5,000 of them being sold online on Black Friday. Though they are high in popularity ratings, they might not be the safest item on which to spend your hard-earned money.

The Internet has been flooded with videos of Hoverboard fails, kids and adults falling and hurting themselves due to the difficulty of riding the hoverboard. What’s worse is that a multitude of videos have surfaced of hoverboards malfunctioning and catching on fire, or even exploding.

These explosions have led to multiple companies no longer selling the product. Some of these companies include Amazon, which stopped selling many of the cheaper brands to improve quality control, and Target, which has done the same thing by limiting which products it sells.

These explosions have caused catastrophe to those looking to enjoy themselves with their new hoverboard.

Hoverboard fires have resulted in entire houses being burnt down. Scientists began to search for a reason “why” and have discovered it: faulty large watt Lithium batteries. The cheaper hoverboard companies lack quality control as they try and keep up with the new trends, resulting in faulty, low-quality batteries.

These popular gadgets are still available, though it is advised to wait until all fake and dangerous products have been eliminated to buy one. They range in prices from around $299 to upwards of $1000, depending on the quality, and the many different features that some may contain.

If you have one or are planning on getting one, use caution, but enjoy the ride.