Lexus Has Built a Working Hoverboard
Posted on June 24, 2015 Comments (7)
Toyota continues to do some fun and interesting research while they produce great cars (and make a lot of money doing so that allows them resources to do interesting research). Some past posts on their engineering exploits: Toyota Develops Thought-controlled Wheelchair (2009), Toyota Engineering Development Process, Innovation at Toyota, How to Develop Products like Toyota, Toyota IT Overview.
Toyota is teasing with the hoverboard announcement but it seems they have actually created it (though it isn’t ready to be in stores this year.
Liquid nitrogen cooled superconductors and permanent magnets combine to power the Lexus Hoverboard.
Sadly they haven’t bothered to hire a decent web designer. They have a pretty but broken website, with essentially no information. It is sad when interesting stories are keep to nearly no information using poorly designed websites created by people obviously more concerned with old fashion paper design thinking than how the web can be used to be clear and useful (not just pretty).
Pretty much for the last 10 years Toyota has had pretty but web hostile design for their web sites. It is a shame they can’t hire people that know how to properly create good web sites. Thankfully they hire good engineers and use good processes to actually develop products.
Categories: Engineering, Research, Sports, Technology
Tags: cool, Engineering, fun, gadgets, Products, Research, Toyota
7 Responses to “Lexus Has Built a Working Hoverboard”
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July 2nd, 2015 @ 6:16 am
This is so awesome! I saw a working concept from maybe Ford(?). But it was only on a magnetic ramp, so this is a major leap in the right direction. Only a few years late of Back to the Future, right?
July 22nd, 2015 @ 1:49 pm
Wow, that is super awesome! I dig the smoke coming out of its side for dramatic effect. Ha ha.
I can definitely see this as being the future. Todays culture is lazy. For many walking is a chore and cycling….forget it!
A hoverboard would be an extra-ordinarily cool tool which almost every young person (and one older one..me!!) would love to have. 🙂
August 9th, 2015 @ 12:27 pm
WoW man, that’s one cool stuff bro. R&D at its core
October 28th, 2015 @ 6:12 pm
I really love this thing. My only concern is it will cost as much as a new lexis. Perhaps the self balancing scooters will loose the wheels and become true hoverboards.
November 24th, 2015 @ 2:49 pm
I’m still skeptical. Sure they got the board to float, but what happens when you put a 200lb person on that thing. Will it sink or float? Also, not quite sure if having a small tank of liquid nitrogen is a safe idea for something that will be marketed for kids. I envision lots of kids going to the emergency room with frost bite from their hover boards. And where are people supposed to get a steady supply of liquid nitrogen. Its not like you can buy that stuff at Walmart. I like out of the box thinking because it should hopefully lead to realistic thinking that can be marketed.
February 6th, 2016 @ 4:58 pm
Awesome! This is so cool. 🙂
April 22nd, 2016 @ 7:51 am
This is very cool! There have been issues with hoverboards recently, but it looks like the inventions from “Back to the Future” are coming to life after all. There are more and more amazing things and awesome gadgets being created every day. What will they think of next?