Capital Allowances Act 2001 section 268B

Electrically-propelled vehicles

Section 268B defines what qualifies as an electrically-propelled vehicle for the purposes of the special rate expenditure rules in Part 2 of the Capital Allowances Act 2001.

• A vehicle must be propelled solely by electrical power to qualify as electrically-propelled — hybrid vehicles using a combination of electric and other power sources do not meet this definition.
• The electrical power must come from either an external source (such as an overhead cable or rail) or an onboard electrical storage battery.
• Where the vehicle uses a storage battery, that battery must not be connected to any source of power while the vehicle is in motion.
• This definition is relevant because electrically-propelled vehicles receive more favourable capital allowances treatment, including eligibility for first-year allowances at 100%, rather than being restricted to the lower special rate pool writing-down allowance.