Everyone’s now racing to make a hoverboard because we decided some time in the last couple of years that proving Back To The Future II prescient was the best way to highlight technological achievement. Lexus is the latest to throw its hat into the ring, posting a teaser for its own hoverboard technology with the promise of a long, drawn-out staged reveal.
To its credit, Lexus has the best-looking Hoverboard I’ve seen, provided it does actually work, with nice bamboo surfaces and even a Lexus grille. The car company is keeping things dreadfully close to the chest about what’s going on here, but says that it uses “magnetic levitation” and “liquid nitrogen cooled superconductors and permanent magnets” to achieve hover flight.
The board is real enough to be undergoing testing with an actual skateboarder in Barcelona (with videos of actual use to follow) and it’s the result of a research project spanning 18 months and engineering teams across two cites.
Remember there was a time machine in those movies, too, companies with money to burn; I’ll be impressed when you make that.