The author, riding an as-of-now unexploded hoverboard. Photo by Mike Pearl
At last, we've gotten to the fun part of the hoverboard backlash. We've weathered the inane "wait, that's not a real hoverboard" storm, largely bypassed the "people falling off of them" stage (besides one video it wasn't even funny to watch people crash on them), and watched as Wiz Khalifa taped his own hoverboard arrest.We've finally reached the "HOLY SHIT THE FUCKING HOVERBOARDS ARE EXPLODING!" phase of the hoverboard backlash. Last month, there were multiple reports of exploding hoverboards in the UK, who, much like with the Beatles and young adult fiction about magical teens, beat us to yet another trend.A couple of days ago, there were reports of a hoverboard exploding in Louisiana, leading to the destruction of a home. In the past few days, video has surfaced of an Alabama man's hoverboard catching fire, only to have the thing straight-up explode after his mom threw some baking soda on it in a (really weird) attempt to put it out.Watch the man, Timothy Cade, speak to NBC affiliate WKRG about the incident, which he partially captured on film.
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Cade claims to have purchased the off-brand hoverboard for cheap from Amazon.A recent Wired report credited cheap batteries on hoverboards manufactured in China with the explosions. So if you're in the market for a hoverboard, don't get a shitty one.Follow Drew on Twitter.