Lexus offers a glimpse of a functional hoverboard prototype

2015-06-25T18:18:00-04:00

Watch out, world. Toyota is heading back to the future. The automaker has hinted it’s looking into flying cars. Now its Lexus luxury brand has actually built a working model of a hoverboard.

Social media lit up last night after Lexus revealed a tantalizing promo video for a "functional hoverboard" prototype. Smoke can be seen curling up from the skateboard-like design, which features a bamboo deck and "the iconic Lexus spindle grille." The prototype uses liquid nitrogen-cooled superconductors and magnets, a technology already implemented in Japan's high-speed rail lines to eliminate friction. While the video appears to show the board hovering on a regular surface, reports indicate that there is a metal track beneath the custom-designed skate park, which was built in a town outside of Barcelona.

If the video makes you nostalgic for Back to the Future, it's no coincidence. A more detailed release is slated for Oct. 21, the day that Marty McFly traversed back to the future.

Actually, this isn't actually the world's first overboard prototype. Hendo Hoverboard is a crowd-sourced technology designed by Greg Henderson, an architect by training. Henderson joined Archinect Sessio...

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Lexus offers a glimpse of a functional hoverboard prototype