Cover image via topgear
Awhile back, Lexus shocked everyone by unveiling a seemingly workable hoverboard. In the teaser video, Lexus teases a real-live magnetized hoverboard that the carmaker has been working under wraps for months
Image via Youtube
After close to a month of teasing and speculation, Lexus officially unveils its hoverboard, dubbed SLIDE
Image via Youtube
In the release video, pro skater Ross McGouran is shown testing the hoverboard. Lucky dude.
Image via Youtube
And yes, it works on water too!
Image via Youtube
So, how does the SLIDE hoverboard actually work? One word: MAGNETS
Image via Wealthour
Lexus has specially built a skate park, just for the hoverboard to move around. And yes, this means the hoverboard can't be used anywhere you want. What a bummer.
Crafted around an insulated core, the SLIDE employs high temperature superconducting blocks in cryostats
Image via TheVerge
These cryostats are reservoirs of liquid nitrogen that cool the superconductors to -197°C. By placing the board over a track of permanent magnets, the design team is then able to make the board hover by cooling it to its operating temperature as the track's magnetic flux lines are "pinned" into place.
According to The Verge, the board can only work for around 20 minutes, until liquid nitrogen runs out
Image via TheVerge
Design wise, the hoverboard takes cues from skatedecks and Lexus' design aesthetics
Image via TheVerge
Lexus also details the design process that went into making SLIDE a reality:
It is clear that Lexus made the hoverboard as a marketing tool, instead of a consumer product. So the dream of a real Hoverboard seems pretty unattainable, but hey, we can always hope right?
Image via Giphy
Afterall, who doesn't want to be like Marty Mcfly?
