The overall project for the SLIDE hoverboard took Lexus about 57 weeks from start to finish. The SLIDE was teased in June and officially revealed August 5, 2015. Lexus partnered with outside technology experts to aid in the creation of the SLIDE; Dietmar Berger, a magnetic levitation engineer, and Ludwig Schultz, a pioneer of superconducting levitation, were the main experts responsible for the hovering of the SLIDE hoverboard. Professional skateboarder Ross McGouran was the main rider of the SLIDE for prototype testing and also promotional riding as well.
Technology
The main focus of the SLIDE is the levitation of the hoverboard, achieved through the use of superconductors inside the board. Superconductors are conductors that have no internal resistance as long as they are kept below a certain temperature. When a metal has no internal resistance, a current running through the metal will run forever without a power source. When a superconductor is subjected to a magnetic field, the superconductor aligns itself with the magnetic field and floats on top of it. Superconductors only have zero internal resistance when cooled to a certain temperature. In order to achieve this the SLIDE uses liquid nitrogen to cool it down to. Even though liquid nitrogen cools down the superconductors of the SLIDE, it also boils at. This makes it difficult to have a constant supply of liquid nitrogen to continually cool down the superconductors; the SLIDE can operate for an average time of only about 20 minutes on maximum liquid nitrogen onboard capacity.
Track
The track built by Lexus for the SLIDE project is in Cubelles, Barcelona, Spain. The entire skate park has magnetic tracks concealed beneath a thin layer of wood. The magnetic track pulls the SLIDE along the path. All the uphill and downhill slopes of the track were specifically designed to ensure the magnetic field has enough momentum to pull the SLIDE.
Components
The SLIDE board itself is made of natural bamboo and carbon fibre support structures. Its superconductors are composed of yttrium, barium, copper, and oxygen.
