MIAMI — A small tech startup based in a Miami-area warehouse may be on the verge of transforming the global energy landscape with a bold new approach to battery design.
Material, co-founded by CEO Gabe Elias, has developed a way to manufacture batteries in any shape or size using hybrid commercial 3D printing technology. It allows the battery to fully conform to the device it powers.
“We developed a brand new way of manufacturing batteries — any size, any shape — fully conformal,” Elias said. “Dead space is dead. It’s gonna look like nothing you’ve ever seen.”
This innovation could eliminate the need for bulky battery compartments in devices like drones, wearables, and even electric vehicles. Instead, batteries can now be integrated seamlessly into the body of a product, like a drone with no separate battery casing, or a car with a battery shaped like a fuel tank.
“Drones that fly higher, cars that go farther,” Elias added.
Material’s “formless energy” concept could lead to thinner, lighter, and more energy-efficient devices while also reshaping how product designers approach development. The company hopes its technology will bring battery manufacturing not only back to the U.S., but specifically to South Florida.
“Whether it’s cassette players or laptops, these are critical things in our daily lives,” said electrical engineer and designer Miles Dotson. “We should care more and find ways to invest in those things — especially if they’re made by local people.”
With roots in South Florida and ambitions that stretch far beyond, Material is betting big that the future of batteries doesn’t have to fit the mold.
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