[sjtrny]

That's not necessarily true. Most people in electric RC hobbies use Lithium batteries without any form of protection circuitry on the battery or cells themselves. The fire rate in the hobby is very low.

[avian]

> The fire rate in the hobby is very low.

As far as I know the percentage of hoverboards that catch fire can also be low. It may be just that RC hobbyists usually don't post pictures of their flaming batteries on Facebook with a comment that they are a terrible fire hazard and demand to be taken off the market.

For what anecdotal evidence is worth, I know of one house fire and one car fire due to lithium batteries among the members of my local RC club.

[jdietrich]

They don't use protection during discharge, which is the relatively safe part of the cycle. They're careful to match the pack to the discharge demand to prevent thermal runaway. They're also at a considerable distance from the pack when it is in use. During charging, any sensible RC hobbyist uses a good balance charger and a LiPo safety bag.

It's also worth bearing in mind that lithium batteries replaced methanol and nitromethane fuel in the RC hobby, which isn't exactly benign.

[c0r5um]

Yep, I've been using Lithium batteries since 15 yrs, (electrics RC helicopters ) with high volts/amps capacity (10-14s) 5-6Ah, you just need to know the specifications theses kinds of batteries have, and not being an asshole Also If you dont trust your local chinese batterie dealer use this http://cpc.cx/eA8 it saves my home couple of time, when I make mistakes...

[scotty79]

Fire rate for hoverboards is also very low. There are just so many of those sold.