Tesla (TSLA) is soaring in anticipation that Trump’s administration will make an easier path for Tesla’s self-driving tech, which still doesn’t work, to be approved federally.

Currently, self-driving technology is addressed at the state level, with each state having its own regulations for approving self-driving systems on its roads.

During a conference call following Tesla’s last earnings results, CEO Elon Musk, who has been financially backing the reelection of Donald Trump and “fully endorsed” him, hinted that he could work with the new federal government to get a federal self-driving approval process going.

Now, Bloomberg reports that Trump’s transition team is discussing making it a priority:

Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team have told advisers they plan to make a federal framework for fully self-driving vehicles one of the Transportation Department’s priorities, according to people familiar with the matter.

This news sent Tesla’s stock up 7%, or an increase of 470 billion in value.

That’s surprising because before now, the regulatory aspect of Tesla’s self-driving effort didn’t seem like the biggest hurdle – making the technology work still seems to be the biggest hurdle.

Tesla has been wrong about its self-driving timeline too many times to count, but the latest one is to release unsupervised self-driving in California and Texas in Q2 2025.

Ashok Elluswamy, the head of FSD at Tesla, stated that Tesla’s goal is to achieve over 600,000 miles between critical disengagement, which is based on NHTSA’s data of accidents between human-driven miles.

Tesla has not released any data about its self-driving effort, and therefore, the best data available is crowdsourced. That data currently shows about 241 miles between critical disengagement:

Tesla would need a 2,500x improvement in miles between disengagement to reach a safer-than-human level, which has been the goal before getting regulatory approval.

Electrek’s Take

That sounds like a much bigger hurdle than getting regulatory approval.

I actually agree with the Trump administration that it makes more sense to have a federal framework for approving self-driving systems than at the state level.

But I don’t see how it will help Tesla since there’s no clear path to Tesla achieving a level safer than human with their current approach any time soon.

At the current pace, the 2,500x improvement would take 10 years and we have yet to see a significant acceleration to the pace of improvement.

Owner-operators are a huge part of the heavy truck market, and they’ve been among the most hesitant groups to transition from diesel to electric semi trucks. That may be changing, however, as Saldivar’s Trucking becomes first independent owner-operator in the US to deploy a Volvo VNR Electric Class 8 truck.

The higher up-front cost of electric semi trucks has been a huge obstacle for smaller fleets. That’s there are incentives from governments, utilities, and even non-profits to help overcome that initial obstacle. And the smart dealers are the ones who are putting in the hours to learn about those incentives, educate their customers, and ultimately sell more vehicles.

TEC Equipment is a smart dealer, and they worked closely with South Coast Air Quality Management District to secure the CARB funding and ensure Saldivar’s was able to ssecure $410,000 in funding from CARB’s On-Road Heavy-Duty Voucher Incentive Program (HVIP), which provides funding to replace older, heavy-duty trucks with zero-emission vehicles. The program is directed exclusively to small fleets with 10 vehicles or less that operate in California and aims to bridge the gap between the regulatory push for clean transportation and the financial realities faced by small business owners.

“TEC Equipment has been instrumental in supporting owner-operators like Saldivar’s Trucking through the transition to battery-electric vehicles,” explains Peter Voorhoeve, president of Volvo Trucks North America. “Their dedication to providing comprehensive support and securing necessary funding demonstrates how crucial dealer partners are in turning the vision of owning a battery-electric vehicle into a reality for fleets of all sizes.”

Saldivar’s Volvo VNR Electric features a six-battery configuration, with 565 kWh of storage capacity and a 250 kW charging capability. The zero-tailpipe emission truck can charge to 80% in 90 minutes to provide a range of up to 275 miles.

Those specs mean the Volvo electric semi is more than capable of meeting Saldivar’s operational needs, which include night shifts at California ports covering 175-200 miles per night, five nights a week. And, as he adds his VNR Electric miles to Volvo’s ever-growing tally, other owner-operators will see that it works for them, too.

“While large fleets often make headlines for their ambitious investments in battery-electric vehicles, nearly half of the 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the U.S. are owner-operators running their businesses with just one truck,” adds Voorhoeve. “These small operations face unique challenges, from the initial capital investment to securing adequate charging infrastructure … this collaboration is a perfect example of the important role to be played by truck dealers and why stakeholders need to work together to succeed in this new era of sustainable transportation.” We need solutions that work for different fleets of all sizes in the marketplace,” added Voorhoeve.”

Electrek’s Take

Electrifying America’s commercial trucking fleet can’t happen soon enough – for the health of the people who live and work near these vehicles, the health of the planet they drive on, and (thanks to their substantially lower operating costs) the health of the businesses that deploy them. TEC is doing a great job advancing the cause, and acting as true expert partners for their customers.

You love to see it.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Trucks, via ACT News.