Walmart recalls Swagtron scooter after its battery set an apartment on fire

Almost 18,000 Swagtron electric scooters are being recalled by Walmart due to fire and safety concerns regarding their lithium-ion batteries. There have been seven reports of SG-5 Swagger 5 Boost batteries “overheating, smoking, melting or igniting” according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), including a fire that caused burn injuries and “substantial property damage” to a residential apartment building.

The recall impacts about 17,970 SG-5 Swagger 5 Boost units sold at Walmart and Sam’s Club between May 2018 and October 2024, with customers being emailed instructions on how to receive a full refund. The affected models — SWGR5-V2-SLV, SWGR5-V2-2, SG5 Boost, SG-5S, 96262-2, 96262-9, SG-5S, and 96560-2 — cost between $175 and $450, and have their model numbers located on the side of the scooter deck.

Swagtron itself, which sold the SG-5 Swagger 5 Boost directly via its own website, notably hasn’t issued a recall for the scooter. The CPSC said that Swagtron has actually ignored its requests for a recall and information about the product. We have reached out to Swagtron for comment.

“Consumers should immediately stop using and charging the recalled electric scooters, cut the throttle cord, and dispose of the entire product following local and state hazardous waste disposal procedures,” the CPSC said in its recall notice.

The recall follows an earlier warning issued by the CPSC in October, urging consumers to cease using SG-5 Swagger 5 Boost scooters that had been purchased from Tractor Supply, Best Buy, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Amazon, eBay, and Swagtron’s website from 2019 onwards. At the time, the CPSC said it was also aware of 139 additional reports of fire or thermal incidents involving other Swagtron products and criticized the company for failing to provide safety information.

Swagtron, previously called Swagway, was initially better known for making hoverboards. It got into the electric scooter business in 2016, around the same time that the CPSC recalled 267,000 of its hoverboards over — you guessed it — having battery packs that posed a fire risk.