&quot;Boosted&quot; brand powered skateboards use lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, which are inherently safer than ordinary lithium-ion batteries. The LiFePO4 chemistry doesn&#x27;t have the thermal runaway problem. That was a good decision. They give up some range, but don&#x27;t have fires.<p>Thermal runaway in LiCoO2 cells is the cause of most battery fires.  Overcharging or cell overheating starts a chemical reaction that raises the temperature, which accelerates the reaction further. This continues until the battery catches fire or explodes.  In battery packs, this can cascade, with one cell forcing adjacent cells into thermal runaway.<p>There are other safer battery technologies. The A123 Systems cells[1] don&#x27;t have the thermal runaway problem and are supposedly resistant to fires due to physical damage.  They pass the &quot;nail test&quot;, where a nail is driven through the battery.  Price is about 2x low-end cells from China.  A hoverboard powered with those should not catch fire.<p>A problem with &quot;Boosted&quot; skateboards is that they can easily be taken over via the Bluetooth link.[2]  Worse, they support over the air firmware updates. Unsigned over the air updates. There&#x27;s an exploit for this, called FacePlant.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.a123systems.com&#x2F;lifepo4-battery-cell.htm" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.a123systems.com&#x2F;lifepo4-battery-cell.htm</a>
[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wired.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;08&#x2F;hackers-can-seize-control-of-electric-skateboards-and-toss-riders-boosted-revo&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wired.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;08&#x2F;hackers-can-seize-control-of-el...</a>