Vietnam's VinFast agrees deal with Marubeni to recycle used EV batteries

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese electric vehicles (EV) maker VinFast said on Monday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan's Marubeni Corp to recycle used EV batteries.

VinFast will supply the used batteries and Marubeni will repurpose into what it said would be affordable Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) that were easy to manufacture, the Vietnamese firm said in a statement.

The process would not require disassembly, processing and repackaging of the batteries, according to the deal, which it said was signed at the weekend during a regional leaders summit in Japan.

The agreement is part of the companies' drive to "establish a circular economic model," it added.

VinFast, founded in 2017 and backed by Vietnam's largest conglomerate Vingroup, made its Nasdaq debut late August.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Martin Petty)