Skateboard-sized hoverboards have been a dream of millions ever since Marty McFly rode one in "Back To The Future II."
Now an inventor in Mountain View, California, is wheeling out a version that he hopes will really take off in sales -- once it gets funded, of course.
Robert Bigler's hoverboard is an electric vehicle that can travel 20 mph and go 15 miles on a single battery charge, South West News Service reports.
To be fair, Bigler's board doesn't levitate. It relies on a single wheel in the centre of the board deck that can be controlled like a Segway -- lean forward to accelerate and lean back to slow down.
Bigler figures to sell the hoverboards for $4,000 each, but needs to raise money to build them first.
On Sept. 17, he will be starting a Kickstarter campaign that will finish on October 21, the day that Marty McFly discovered his own hoverboard in "Back To The Future II."
However, these Hoverboards aren't as easy to ride as they look, Bigler told TechCrunch.
TechCrunch reporter Josh Constine found the hoverboard was difficult to ride despite being an experienced skateboarder and snowboarder.
"I spent an hour trying to get the hang of this hoverboard* and by the end I could skittishly go in a straight line and just barely make soft turns without falling off," he said. "This is by far the toughest personal electric vehicle I’ve tried. Expect a lot of frustration at first, similar to learning to snowboard. Even then I’m not sure you’d want to commute in traffic on this thing."
If the Kickstarter campaign fails to float enough cash to the hoverboard, Bigler plans to make a few dozen boards for friends and family, then call it quits.
