The evolution of transportation has come quite a long way. Cars and airplanes are the two most recent iterations on the age-old issue of how to get to a location as quickly as possible. Many people, perhaps you included, are excited for the next installment in the chain. Well, perhaps it is already here.

Straight out of many forward-facing science fiction movies and television shows, hoverboards have arrived onto the scene. However, many questions still swirl around them. How effective are they? Could they be the future of transportation? And, most important, why are they called hoverboards when they have wheels?

What is a Hoverboard?

To be completely fair, “hoverboard” could be a bit of a misnomer. After all, it does not float. However, people started calling it that because it replicated the feel of floating across the ground. A hoverboard is made up of multiple components: a frame made of steel with a central pivoting point, a logic board, and a couple of gyroscopes and electric motors, to name a few.

The basic framework of how to operate one is as follows: the rider uses subtle movements of their feet on the pressure pads included in the body of the board to indicate their desired direction of travel. The logic board receives that data and sends it to the motors and gyroscopes. The motors are what makes the vehicle move, while the gyroscopes prevent the rider from overbalancing and crashing out.

What are their Positives?

Now that you know what a hoverboard is, it is time to start stacking up the pros and cons of them to determine if cars are soon-to-be obsolete. To begin, the boards are battery operated, often taking one to two hours to charge, depending on model and make. The battery is often rechargeable, which, while still utilizing a fuel source dependent on fossil fuel, is still better for the environment. These devices do not emit pollution.

Next, hoverboards are reasonably sturdy, provided that a company did not make it cheaply. Many of the higher-tier boards can reach speeds of up to twelve miles per hour, which is quite respectable. Again, depending on the make and model of the board, hoverboards can generally go for between ten and fifteen miles before they must be recharged. While not nearly as fast as a car, hoverboards are perfect for small trips to locations that are within 7 miles.

What are their Drawbacks?

In comparison to cars, hoverboards suffer a few issues. To start, as mentioned before, hoverboards have a top speed of about fifteen miles per hour, and that is for the top-end boards. In contrast, most cars can comfortably go seventy-five miles per hour. Unless the speed and safety of hoverboards increase in the near future, nobody will take them for long-distance trips unless they can somehow charge the battery on the go. The other glaring downside is that hoverboards only fit one rider. Unless a family opted for piggy-back rides, they would likely prefer a van or something similar.

What’s the Verdict?

Undoubtedly, there are several positives associated with the use of hoverboards. They are pretty cost-efficient, move reasonably quickly over small distances, and are better overall for the environment than motor vehicles are.

In terms of widespread use of this technology, the future does not look bright; yet. Families would have little use for current hoverboards, since, at least as of time of writing, there is no SUV version yet. In addition, hoverboards cannot yet hope to match the speed at which a car travels, which eliminates it as an option to replace cars in that sense.

However, there could be some potential amongst college students to adopt this technology. Seeing as how students on-campus generally do not require long-distance travel, many of them could, and indeed many have, purchased a hoverboard for travel across campus. The relative lack of effort required to operate a hoverboard works to its advantage for a relaxing commute to classes or a short distance to work. Should you be interested in learning more about hoverboards, visit to start learning more about them.