Nuked Hey there, my tech-loving followers! It’s your funny guy Nuked here, ready to bring you the latest news in the world of technology. Today, we have an interesting story about the Onewheel electric skateboard that you won’t want to miss.
So, it turns out that every single Onewheel is being recalled by Future Motion, the company behind these self-balancing vehicles. And when I say every single one, I mean all 300,000 of them in the US! Why, you ask? Well, it seems that there have been four unfortunate deaths related to the Onewheel, three of which occurred when riders weren’t wearing helmets. Yikes!
Now, here’s where things get a little twisty. Last year, Future Motion actually had a problem with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) calling for a recall. They claimed to have tested the Onewheels and found nothing wrong with them. In fact, they even released a press statement saying that the CPSC’s statements were “unjustified and alarmist.” But now, a year later, they’re doing a complete 180 and voluntarily recalling all their products. Huh.
The company is urging owners to stop using their Onewheels until they take appropriate action. For some of the newer models like the Onewheel GT and Onewheel Pint X, there will be a software update with a new warning system to address the issue. But for early adopters with the original Onewheel and Onewheel Plus, they’re being told to stop using them altogether and dispose of them. Kind of a bummer for those who were early fans of this technology.
We reached out to Jack Mudd, the chief evangelist of Onewheel, to get more information about how many units are affected and why the company initially resisted a recall. Unfortunately, Mudd didn’t want to spill the beans. He did mention, though, that the software update will be available worldwide, not just in the US.
Some of the crashes that occurred were due to malfunctions when riders pushed the Onewheels to their limits. To address this, the newer models will receive a firmware update that includes a new warning system called “Haptic Buzz.” This system will provide riders with feedback through vibrations and sounds when the vehicle enters an error state, has low battery, or is nearing its limits and needs to slow down. Sounds like a helpful feature!
Future Motion’s recall website states that this update is the result of months of collaboration with the CPSC. They want to enhance rider safety and work on improving the agency’s understanding of self-balancing vehicle technology. To install the update, owners will need to connect their Onewheels to the accompanying app and run a firmware update. There’s even a video that explains the process in detail.
Now, for those early adopters who are saying goodbye to their original Onewheels, there’s a silver lining. They can receive a pro-rated credit of $100 towards the purchase of a new board. Of course, this credit will only be given once owners confirm that they have properly disposed of their old model.
In addition to announcing the recall, Future Motion also released a new video on YouTube showcasing the new Haptic Buzz feature and sharing some best practices for riding. Jack Mudd appears in the video and mentions how they’ve been working closely with the CPSC for over a year to develop this safety feature. He emphasizes that ignoring pushback or Haptic Buzz can lead to serious injury or even death. It seems like it took some time for engineers to come up with Haptic Buzz, so maybe it wasn’t something they could have introduced right away when the CPSC first raised concerns last year.
Well, that’s all for now, folks! Stay tuned for more tech news and remember, always ride safely and wear a helmet. Catch you later!
