Pentagon offers battery startup 6K $250M loan to build U.S. factory

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Batteries are everywhere, even on the battlefield, which helps explain the Pentagon’s recent interest in building more domestic manufacturing capacity.

The 12-year-old, North Andover, Mass.-based startup 6K announced Thursday that it won conditional approval for a $250 million loan from the Department of Defense to build a factory in Tennessee. The plant will use a unique microwave-powered process to produce battery materials that don’t rely on Chinese suppliers.

The company previously received a $50 million grant from the Department of Energy under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, though that 2023 grant was canceled by the Trump administration in a chaotic sweep of Biden-era awards, forcing 6K to reapply.

Initially, the factory was originally slated to open in 2024, but the grant cancelation and uncertainties in the EV market forced the company to rejigger its plans.

6K’s manufacturing process uses microwaves to heat metals into a plasma and then deposit them onto a surface, reducing the number of steps required to make cathode material, a key battery component. The company says the process can work on a number of different battery types, including lithium iron phosphate (LFP).