Incident · Property damage

Kiwibot delivery robot catches fire on UC Berkeley campus; company pulls fleet

On Friday 14 December 2018 a battery in an idling Kiwi delivery robot on the UC Berkeley campus began smouldering and caught fire. A bystander used a fire extinguisher and the Berkeley Fire Department sprayed foam to prevent reignition; no injuries were reported. Kiwi said its investigation found the root cause was human error during battery replacement, when a defective battery was installed, leading to thermal runaway (company-stated).

Outcome: Kiwi pulled all robots from service during the investigation, switched to hand delivery, and said it was adding battery-monitoring software and a new battery review process.

Occurred 2018-12-14 · Kiwibot Delivery Robot · Kiwibot · Sidewalk delivery

How to read this record

Incident records on DEPLOY are compiled from public sources (regulatory filings, news reports, and operator disclosures) and reflect what has been reported and tracked to date. They are not legal findings, determinations of fault, or safety ratings, and may be updated as new information is verified. See the sources below for the underlying references.

Track Kiwibot delivery robot catches fire on UC Berkeley campus; company pulls fleet

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Markdown mirror: /incidents/kiwibot-uc-berkeley-battery-fire-2018-12-14.md
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REST API: /v1/incidents/5ffcfb24-4d5c-49c7-94ee-8840b8aea17f
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Sources (2)

Kiwi blames 'human error' after delivery robot catches fire · https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/17/kiwi-blames-human-error-after-delivery-robot-catches-fire · 2018-12-17
Robot delivery bot fire at university · https://www.theregister.com/2018/12/17/robot_university_fire/ · 2018-12-17

Response (1)

Kiwi (Kiwibot) · operator · 2018-12-17

As reported by TechCrunch (Dec 17, 2018): "We learned that the root cause was human error when replacing the batteries": "a defective battery was put in place of a functioning one. This caused an exceedingly rare occurrence of the battery experiencing thermal runaway."

Common questions

What happened in Kiwibot delivery robot catches fire on UC Berkeley campus; company pulls fleet?

When did this incident occur?

The incident is recorded as occurring on December 14, 2018 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.

What robot was involved in Kiwibot delivery robot catches fire on UC Berkeley campus; company pulls fleet?

Kiwibot Delivery Robot is the recorded robot involved in this incident.

Has anyone responded to Kiwibot delivery robot catches fire on UC Berkeley campus; company pulls fleet?

1 response is recorded on the DEPLOY registry, from Kiwi (Kiwibot). Each response is append-only with structured provenance.

What is the current status of Kiwibot delivery robot catches fire on UC Berkeley campus; company pulls fleet?

This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.

Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-11-01

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-11-01

Sources by quality tier

1: secondary-industry-publication; Industry publication
1: unclassified; Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

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Canonical ID 5ffcfb24-4d5c-49c7-94ee-8840b8aea17f