Hoverboards and Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries serve as the power source for everything from smartphones, laptops, hover boards, to electric cars such as the Tesla. They are rechargeable and have four to six times the energy of standard nickel-cadmium batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries in those technologies are made by experienced and highly reliable manufacturers. They know how to construct them in a way that balances the amount of power produced with the amount of power consumed by the device during operation.

This type of battery has three primary parts: Two electrodes, an anode made of graphite, and a cathode made of lithium cobalt oxide or a similar metal oxide. Between is a thin, but porous polyethylene separator that keeps the two apart.

The electric current flows between the anode and the cathode via a liquid, called the electrolyte. If the anode and cathode are not engineered correctly for the power draw or the separator is imperfect, a short circuit can result. When that happens, the electrolyte heats up, the cathode and anode become unstable, and the two react violently with the electrolyte. The temperature may cause the battery to eject its hot internal contents, which catch fire or explode when they come in contact with oxygen in the atmosphere.

Hoverboard  manufacturers had many less-than-expert battery suppliers using possible defective materials or improper engineering of parts. Hoverboards pose additional risks. They draw energy from batteries much faster than cellphones and laptops do, which strains the electrodes and raises the internal heat. They are also subject to more mechanical abuse. When they fix the battery problem, I still want/need one.