E-mobility has taken over the world, and if you live in a city, you’ve probably seen—or nearly been run over by—an e-scooter at some point. These things are everywhere, and for good reason. They’re cheap to run, easy to park, and make short commutes a breeze.
One of the biggest players in the game is Segway-Ninebot, a company that cranks out e-scooters by the millions every year. Fun fact: Ninebot is actually backed by Chinese tech giant Xiaomi, the same brand known for making smartphones, smart home gadgets, and just about every other piece of tech under the sun.
Now, when you’re manufacturing e-scooters at such an insane scale, every now and then, something's bound to go wrong. And when it does, it’s a big deal. Case in point: Segway just recalled 220,000 Ninebot Max G30P and Max G30LP KickScooters in the US because of a folding mechanism that can fail mid-ride. That’s right—your handlebars could suddenly decide they’ve had enough and fold like a cheap lawn chair while you’re cruising along.
Sounds fun, right? No? Yeah, exactly.
Segway has already gotten 68 reports of this happening, with 20 injuries to show for it, ranging from road rash and bruises to broken bones. If you’re unlucky, you might even end up with some new dental work you didn’t ask for. The affected scooters were sold at big-name retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, Costco, Target, and Sam’s Club, as well as online at Segway and Amazon from January 2020 to February 2025, priced anywhere between $600 and $1,000.
If you own one of these scooters, do yourself a favor—stop riding it immediately. Segway is offering a free maintenance kit that includes tools and instructions on how to check and tighten the folding mechanism to make sure it doesn’t turn into a surprise eject button. Given how many of these scooters are sold worldwide, this issue might not be limited to just the US, so if you’ve got one, it’s best to check with Segway and be safe rather than sorry.
At the end of the day, e-mobility is awesome, but a scooter that decides to self-destruct mid-ride? Not so much. If you or someone you know has one of these Segways, get it checked, get the fix, and stay upright.
Source: CPSC
