Lexus Unveils Its Hoverboard in Action - Turns Out Skating on Water is Possible

“I’ve spent 20 years skateboarding, but without friction it feels like I’ve had to learn a whole new skill, particularly in the stance and balance to ride the hoverboard. It’s a whole new experience,” said pro skateboarder Ross McGouran. Judging by the looks of it, levitating on a hoverboard is not as easy as Marty McFly made it look but is sure sounds like a hell of a joyride.

The Lexus Hoverboard project is the result of a year and a half of hard work; the result of a collaboration with a team of scientists from IFW Dresden and evico GmbH, who specialize in magnetic levitation technology. They had McGouran testing the toy for several months in Dresden, Germany, pushing it to its limits.

Up to 200 meters (656 ft) of magnetic track was transported to Barcelona from the Dresden facility to lay beneath the hoverpark surface to create the dynamic test. That precise construction allowed tricks no skateboard could ever perform, like traveling across the water. Lexus has captured the final ride footage and released it as a film led by award-winning director Henry-Alex Rubin.

You may be wondering how this bad boy works. Well, here’s the automaker’s explanation:

“The Lexus Hoverboard technology features two ‘cryostats’—reservoirs in which superconducting material is kept at -197 degrees through immersion in liquid nitrogen. The board is then placed on a track that contains permanent magnets. Dr. Oliver de Haas, evico CEO, said: ‘The magnetic field from the track is effectively ‘frozen’ into the superconductors in the board, maintaining the distance between the board and the track—essentially keeping the board hovering. This force is strong enough to allow the rider to stand and even jump on the board."