There is an intermediate step before fully automated self-driving (FSD) trucking and that is automated truck platooning, where multiple Tesla Semi trucks follow a lead vehicle with only one driver for a whole fleet. This is enabled by advanced FSD software available in 2025. This would be significant scale starting in late 2026, leveraging Tesla’s Nevada factory ramping-up 50,000 trucks per year. Semi should be at 10,000–20,000 units annually in 2026. Semi trucks leveraging platooning could make $250,000 to $300,000 per truck. 20,000 trucks would be worth about $5-6 billion per year in profit in 2026 for about $200 per share. In 2027, this would be 60,000-70,000 trucks making about $17 billion per year in platooning mode or $34 billion per year in full autonomous mode. This would add $500-1200 per share.
Key benefits include massive cost savings—diesel trucks cost $1.50/mile, Tesla Semi ~$1.20/mile solo, ~$0.80/mile in a three-truck platoon (due to reduced driver needs, fuel efficiency, and higher utilization like 200,000+ miles/year), and down to $0.40–0.50/mile with full autonomy.
Robotrucking even compare robo-taxis: trucking has no price cliff after scale, constant ~$2.20/mile revenue, higher utilization (75–85%, 800–1,000 miles/day), and a $2+ trillion global market.
Projections show platooning with 100,000 vehicles yielding $28 billion/year in profit, full autonomy doubling that to $56 billion (adding ~$2,500/share to Tesla’s stock at a 40 PE).
They discuss regulatory support (29 states allow driverless trailing trucks), Tesla’s internal freight savings ($1 billion/year), global variations (e.g., higher rates in China due to fragmented markets), and broader impacts like lower goods costs and economic transformation.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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