The much-vaunted idea of the Hoverboard, popularised in the Back to the Future movies which showed it available in 2015, has arrived just in time, from Lexus.
In the Back to the Future movies, Michael J Fox’s character gets to ride a Hoverboard in the year 2015. You still can’t buy one off the shelf, but Lexus has produced an advanced version that really works.
Car manufacturer Lexus has worked with experts in super-conductive technology to create one of the most advanced Hoverboards the world has seen. The concept is the fourth project in its Amazing in Motion campaign, demonstrating its commitment to pursuing new possibilities in advanced design and technology.
Sadly for Back to the Future fans, the Lexus Hoverboard is a prototype and will not be for sale.
Mark Templin, executive vice president at Lexus International, said: “At Lexus we constantly challenge ourselves and our partners to push the boundaries of what is possible. That determination, combined with our passion and expertise for design and innovation, is what led us to take on the Hoverboard project. It’s the perfect example of the amazing things that can be achieved when you combine technology, design and imagination.”
The Lexus project team has used magnetic levitation with liquid nitrogen-cooled superconductors and permanent magnets to give the Hoverboard frictionless movement of a kind that had been thought possible only in movies.
Although a completely different form of transport, the Hoverboard shares design cues with today’s Lexus cars, including the signature spindle grille. It has also been made using some of the same materials, both high-tech and natural, such as bamboo.
The Hoverboard is part of the fourth project in the Lexus Amazing in Motion campaign, an international showcase for the brand’s creativity and innovation. The prototype is being tested in Barcelona in the coming weeks prior to the campaign’s launch.
