Lexus has built an actual hoverboard

Lexus's project team has collaborated with "experts in super-conductive technology" to build an actual, working, real-life hoverboard. No joke.

They tell us the team is using magnetic levitation with liquid nitrogen-cooled super-conductors and permanent magnets to "give the hoverboard frictionless movement of a kind that had been thought impossible".

Impossible? Not unless you've watched Back to the Future II several, several times.

Lexus tells us the hoverboard shares some design cues with the current Lexus range of cars – including that Predator-style spindle grille. It apparently features materials sourced from Lexus's road car range, though whether it'll boast a curiously old-school digital clock remains unclear.

The hoverboard is planned as a one-off, sadly, and won't be put up for sale. But who cares? They'll be testing the prototype in Barcelona over the next few weeks, ahead of a summer launch.

Check the video below to see a teaser of the technology in action: a teaser, admittedly, that doesn't show a whole lot in the way of hovery, skatey action.

But that's fine, because they've got until 21 October to get it all ready. Now, all we need is a flying DeLorean and a flux capacitor...

(BBC)