In current recycling plants for lithium-ion batteries, the disassembly process is executed manually. With the rising numbers of electric cars, the
possible solutions for the disassembly process have to be investigated more deeply. The automation of disassembly steps can be a leading idea
for the process design. However, the automation technology has to overcome various challenges to be successful such as unknown return rates,
variety of battery systems or dangers during disassembly. This paper focuses on the return rates of various battery systems. Therefore, different
forecasts on sales figures of electric cars with various economic, social, ecological and technological influencing factors are assessed.
Moreover the lifetime of variant battery systems in electric cars, primary application, and a possible lifespan of the batteries in a secondary
application are analyzed. The aim of the paper is to develop different scenarios for the return rates of lithium-ion batteries.