VIDEO: Lexus hoverboard is like “floating on air”

For a brand with a tagline like “Amazing In Motion,” the fully-functional Lexus Hoverboard certainly fits into the corporate DNA of the marque. It’s definitely a departure for an automaker to create such an cool toy.

By now, you’re probably sick of every Marty McFly reference that has been attributed to this hoverboard, so I’m going to refrain from going into such territory.

The initial teaser video (below) certainly didn’t give away much, as it showed the board levitating an inch or two off the ground as it emits wisps of smoke. Just as a foot approaches to mount it, the video cuts away. In the second video (up top), professional skateboarder Ross McGouran shares his thoughts on the hoverboard. “It’s like floating on a cushion of air,” he says.

According to WIRED, the hover board relies on superconductors and magnets, which combine to repel the force of gravity and lift an object, like a skateboarder and its rider, above the ground. Essentially the hover board has a superconductor, and basically its like a miniaturised version of a maglev train.

Those wisps of smoke you see, is liquid nitrogen, cooling the superconductors to -210 degrees Celsius. So, when the liquid nitrogen runs out, the superconductors start warming up, and the hover board will stop hovering till you top up the liquid nitrogen again.

Interestingly, Maurice Durand, a Lexus spokesperson, says that the Lexus Hoverboard is part of a marketing campaign for an as yet unannounced car. Don’t expect a floating car either, it’s just not in the plan, according to Durand.

Although the hoverboard doesn’t represent a really great scientific breakthrough, it does capture so many hearts. It’s gorgeous, with its bamboo decking, carbon-fibre base and those wisps of smoke that lend a mysterious aura to it too.

According to Spanish website, El Patin, this maglev hoverboard is still undergoing testing at a magnetic skateboard park in Cubelles, a village outside Barcelona. Apparently, a metal track is embedded in the ground of the unfinished park, which is still under construction and is being patrolled by private security 24 hours a day.

The track appears to loop through the entire park and across various features, like stairs and jumps too. One can only speculate if Lexus is planning to use the park for the sole purpose of shooting the advertising campaign or are there bigger plans in store for this futuristic skate park.

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Anil Prabha

Anil Prabha has always been a petrol head. He also has a strange knack for remembering car models and their respective registration plates. Naturally aspirated engines are always better than turbocharged or supercharged ones, in his opinion. Ultimately, he believes that there is nothing better in life than just going for a drive.

 

Comments

  • flipper2uman (Member) on Jul 16, 2015 at 12:45 pm

    This is sweet. October 21st 2015 is here for real. This hoverboard has kept a generation of engineers and designers dreaming.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
 

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