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A man rides a Lime electric scooter in the southwestern French city of Bordeaux on Sept. 27. (Mehdi Fedouach / AFP / Getty Images)
This week, Lime, one of the nation's largest electric-scooter companies, said the company pulled out of its scooters off the streets this summer because of a small number of defectives batteries had the potential to catch fire.
The batteries were fire-prone, the company said, because of a welding issue that caused them to short-circuit.
Lime's batteries – the company was in charge of the Lime's batteries – disputed the scooter company's claims by its manufacturing process.
Segway said it's engineers who specialize in battery technology that faulty welding "will typically be used to charge or discharge, but it is highly unlikely to cause a battery to short circuit. flow of electricity.
"Over the years we have sold millions of Segway's self balancing vehicles and a million kickscooters," the statement added.
"We can not agree with Lime's diagnosis in the article. We think the statement was not based on a good understanding of battery technology. "
Segway put out Friday morning making similar points.
[Electric scooter giant Lime says it recalled scooters amid fears that some could catch on fire]
Asked to comment on a Segway's statement, a Lime spokesman said the company still maintains their scooter's fire hazard stemmed from a manufacturing problem.
"Segway's assertions aside, even the slightest risk – and we do not believe that the risk is small – their batteries requires the safety of our Lime community first" spokesperson said. "We are looking forward to working with them in their product. Until then, we stand by our decision and rationale. "
Responding to questions from the Washington Post about scooters catching fire earlier this week, Lime had previously said some of the defying batteries may have had weak spots, causing the batteries to short.
Tony Ho, Segway's vice president of global business development, said Segway's batteries are certified by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a company that independently tests the safety of lithium-ion batteries. UL did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ho said Segway produced about 1 million electric scooters this year alone, about 10 percent of which were sold to Lime. The company supplies electric scooters and batteries to about 30 scooter companies, including giants such as Bird, he said.
"We take Lime's fire issue very, very seriously," Ho said. "We actually went to all of our shared scooters, and so far we've found that only the Lime operation has had fire incidents."
Ho pointed to what engineers and company officials believe is a more likely culprit for Lime's battery woes: improper charging and maintenance.
As Instagram has been documented, Ho said, "all over the country undergoes substantial substance abuse". He said it was possible that any defensive lime scooter batteries had become damaged after being abused. Batteries can also catch fire if they're overcharged or do not use Segway-issued charging devices. An employee who charges scooters with the wrong equipment, Ho said, could damage scooter batteries.
Because this file is often used to keep track of things, Ho says it's "even more important for the shared-scooter companies".
"These scooters are involved in a commercial operation," Ho said. "Without proper training and a way to manage your contractors – or 'Juicers,' as Lime labels them – it's actually going to be very difficult to make sure the safety practices are followed."
Ho added that Segway is working with Lime to solve technical issues about malfunctioning batteries.
[Scooter use is rising in major cities. So are trips to the emergency room.]
In a statement Tuesday, Lime said that it was learned in August that a "manufacturing defect" in some of its scooters. Lake Tahoe Facility on Aug. 27.
The company's statement in Lime's scooters catching on fire. Lime recorded about 2,000 scooters in Los Angeles, San Diego and Lake Tahoe, they said the risk of smoldering and fires was real in only a tiny percentage of cases. The company said it took off the streets.
Likes also that it has received an unconfirmed report that another scooter model uses "may also be vulnerable to battery failure."
In its statement this week, Lime said that, moving forward, Segway Ninebot scooters would be at Lime's "scooter storage facilities" and would "no longer be available to Juicers for after hours charging."
The company said that it would be able to handle these particular batteries.
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