Recovery period is a term the Internal Revenue Service uses to indicate the amount of time you can recover the cost of an asset for tax purposes.  The Recovery period for automobiles are five years.  For example, if the cost of a vehicle is $15,000, you would depreciate it over five years, so you will get a deduction for the depreciation of 15000/5 every year for five years. 

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p946/ch04.html