Lexus says it has a real hoverboard
Before flying cars, and time travel, first must come the hoverboard.
The scientists at Lexus are busy perfecting the Slide, what the company describes as a real-life, functional hoverboard of the type only Marty McFly would glide with in 1989's "Back to the Future Part II." Some other hoverboard models have arisen in the last year, such as the Hendo, and a homemade propeller version, yet look nothing like Marty's stylish craft that the Slide resembles, and with totally different technology.
The Lexus Slide will be powered by nitrogen-cooled superconductors and magnets, according to the website. That unusual technology has already been proven functional in transportation, and has been put to use by a Japanese railway company that broke the world-record for speed with its magnetic-levitation train, reported Bloomberg.
The levitating board looks to be about the size of a skateboard and is made from real bamboo and sleek Lexus tech features for a few extra inches of thickness, with the added mystique of smoke emanating from side vents. In the promo video, a man steps off his skateboard and creeps up to the hoverboard, lifts his foot onto the craft, and then the video cuts out leaving us wondering if the vehicle will indeed stay above ground.
"There's no such thing as impossible" the promo video says. "It's just a matter of how." And how long until we can get our feet on them.
Though not yet on the market, the Slide prototype is expected to be tested in Barcelona this year, and an official release is rumored to be tied in with the "Back to the Future" anniversary re-releases slated for Oct. 21, 2015 (the day Doc, Marty and his gal pal Jennifer went back to the future).
Meanwhile, Toyota is already hinting at its secret project that will utilize hover-craft technology: an actual flying car.
"It's very confidential information but we have been studying the flying car in our most advanced R&D area," Hiroyoshi Yoshiki, a managing officer in Toyota's Technical Administration Group, said in June 2014 at the Bloomberg Next Big Thing Summit. "Flying car means the car is just a little bit away from the road, so it doesn't have any friction or resistance from the road."