Future Motion, the maker of the Onewheel electric skateboard, is recalling every one of them, including 300,000 Onewheel self-balancing vehicles in the US. Alongside the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the company now seeks to remedy the products after four known death cases — three without a helmet — between 2019 and 2021.
The recall comes a year after Future Motion took issue with the CPSC’s calls for recall and claimed that it tested and found nothing wrong with the Onewheels. At the time, the company issued a press release in objection to the CPSC and called the agency’s statements “unjustified and alarmist.”
Now Future Motion is moving forward with a voluntary recall it chose not to do almost a year earlier. The company is asking owners to stop using their Onewheels until they take appropriate action. For the newer Onewheel GT, Onewheel Pint X, Onewheel Pint, and Onewheel Plus XR, a software update with a new warning system is the remedy.
For early adopters, however, the CPSC and Future Motion are telling owners to stop using and discard the original Onewheel and Onewheel Plus. We asked Onewheel chief evangelist Jack Mudd in an email how many of the original units are affected, but Mudd refused to answer. Mudd also wouldn’t tell us why the company claimed there were no issues and publicly resisted issuing a recall back in 2022.
Mudd did say that the software update for the other models is rolling out worldwide, not just in the US.
Some crashes occurred due to Onewheel skateboards malfunctioning after being pushed to certain limits. The Onewheel GT, Onewheel Pint X, Onewheel Pint, and Onewheel Plus XR will receive a firmware update that will add a new warning “Haptic Buzz” feedback that riders can feel and hear when the vehicle enters an error state, is low on battery, or is nearing its limits and needs to slow down.
“This update is the culmination of months of work with the CPSC,” reads the company’s recall website. Last November, it called the CPSC’s warning about Onewheels “misleading” but stated it would “work to enhance the CPSC’s understanding of self-balancing vehicle technology and seek to collaborate with the agency to enhance rider safety.”
To install the update, owners must connect their Onewheels to the accompanying app and run a firmware update — the process is fully explained in a new video.
For early adopters, however, owners can receive a “pro-rated credit of $100 to the purchase of a new board,” according to Mudd. The credit will only be issued after owners confirm that they have disposed of the old model.
Alongside Future Motion’s blink on the decision to recall Onewheel, the company shared a new video on YouTube highlighting the new Haptic Buzz feature as well as best practices when riding. “We’ve been working closely with the CPSC for over a year in order to develop this new safety feature,” Mudd says in the video. He adds that ignoring pushback or Haptic Buzz “can result in serious injury or death.” It took engineers a while to whip up Haptic Buzz; perhaps it’s something that would not have been ready in a timely fashion after CPSC’s first whistle last year.
FFS that is crazy expensive
To be fair, they are pretty cool. I dunno about $1k cool, but still nifty.
Not as cool as an old cheap motorcycle, imo.
That’s assuming cool old cheap motorcycle doesn’t have issues lol. My brother picked up a Honda CB450 years ago for about $700, and that thing had nothing but problems.
Fixing them is half the fun (maybe more for me).
Oh absolutely agreed, if it’s bought for that purpose. My brother bought his for a primary mode of transportation to save money on gas, and yeah that didn’t exactly pan out lol
I agree they are cool but starting at $1k…not that cool.
I have rode them a few times but feels like $400 device to me.
Depends, as a toy, yes, as a means of transportation, not really. I live in a dense city so it’s my main means of transport, cheaper than a car, and even bikes once you consider how often they get stolen, at least in my city. With a one wheel you can just carry it inside and not have to worry about some guy taking it.
Not worth my life though, hopefully this update fixes things.
That makes sense, I was only looking at them as a toy. What do you think of electric scooter? Far cheaper and I feel some what safer?
Yeah, they are definitely safer and easier to ride. It’s just what do you do when you get to the destination? For a one wheel or skateboard you can just bring it inside the store and carry it around, or stash it under the table at a restaurant or the seat on a bus/train. Sometimes I’ll even hide it in some bushes at the park since it’s so small and unnoticeable. For a scooter they usually won’t let you bring it inside a store or onto a bus/train, and I don’t trust locking it up outside since I’m in a city with a lot of bike theft. If that’s less of a problem then a scooter might be the way to go.
Ah good point. I just got a scooter and was amazing how tiny it folds up. I didn’t think there would be an issue with taking it inside. Been a while since I held a one wheel but don’t remember them being tiny either.
The problem is only if you’re being reckless and pushing through pushback. Can a car manufacturer be blamed for a death is someone crashes their car after losing control while driving 120mph with no seatbelt? Seems like a user error to me.