Pentagon hands 6K conditional $250M loan for Tennessee battery factory

The Pentagon is putting money behind a Massachusetts startup with a plan to make battery parts on American soil. 6K, based in North Andover, said Thursday it won conditional approval for a $250 million loan from the Department of Defense to build a factory in Tennessee, according to TechCrunch.

The plant will lean on a process that sounds more like a science demo than a production line: microwaves heat metals into a plasma, which then gets deposited onto a surface. That cuts down the number of steps needed to make cathode material, a core battery ingredient. 6K says the method works across several battery chemistries, including lithium iron phosphate, or LFP.

The Tennessee build is meant to sidestep reliance on Chinese suppliers for battery materials — a priority that has Washington's attention well beyond the battlefield. Batteries, after all, are everywhere now, and the Defense Department wants more of them made domestically.

This isn't 6K's first swing at federal support. The company landed a $50 million grant from the Department of Energy under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2023. That award was canceled by the Trump administration in a sweeping purge of Biden-era grants, forcing 6K to reapply.

The detour cost the company time. The factory was originally supposed to open in 2024, but the grant cancellation, combined with turbulence in the EV market, pushed 6K to redraw its plans.

Now the 12-year-old startup has a conditional green light and a much bigger number attached. What happens next hinges on 6K converting that approval into a signed deal and getting shovels in the Tennessee dirt.