A system comprising: a data processor; a plurality of vehicle control subsystems to control the operation of an autonomous vehicle, and an energy-optimized motion planning module, executable by the data processor, the energy-optimized motion planning module being configured to perform an energy-optimized motion planning operation for the autonomous vehicle, the energy-optimized motion planning module being configured to: generate a plurality of potential routings and related vehicle motion control operations for the autonomous vehicle to cause the autonomous vehicle to transit from a current position to a desired destination; generate predicted energy consumption rates for each of the potential routings and related vehicle motion control operations using a vehicle energy consumption model; score each of the plurality of potential routings and related vehicle motion control operations based on the corresponding predicted energy consumption rates; select one of the plurality of potential routings and related vehicle motion control operations having the lowest predicted energy consumption score; modify the related vehicle motion control operations to lower the autonomous vehicle's energy consumption over the selected routing if the score of the selected routing is not within an acceptable range; and output, to at least one of the plurality of vehicle control subsystems, a vehicle motion control output representing the selected routing and related vehicle motion control operations, wherein the related vehicle motion control operations include vehicle motion control operations to cause the vehicle to draft a leading vehicle. a data processor; a plurality of vehicle control subsystems to control the operation of an autonomous vehicle, and an energy-optimized motion planning module, executable by the data processor, the energy-optimized motion planning module being configured to perform an energy-optimized motion planning operation for the autonomous vehicle, the energy-optimized motion planning module being configured to: generate a plurality of potential routings and related vehicle motion control operations for the autonomous vehicle to cause the autonomous vehicle to transit from a current position to a desired destination; generate predicted energy consumption rates for each of the potential routings and related vehicle motion control operations using a vehicle energy consumption model; score each of the plurality of potential routings and related vehicle motion control operations based on the corresponding predicted energy consumption rates; select one of the plurality of potential routings and related vehicle motion control operations having the lowest predicted energy consumption score; modify the related vehicle motion control operations to lower the autonomous vehicle's energy consumption over the selected routing if the score of the selected routing is not within an acceptable range; and output, to at least one of the plurality of vehicle control subsystems, a vehicle motion control output representing the selected routing and related vehicle motion control operations, wherein the related vehicle motion control operations include vehicle motion control operations to cause the vehicle to draft a leading vehicle. generate a plurality of potential routings and related vehicle motion control operations for the autonomous vehicle to cause the autonomous vehicle to transit from a current position to a desired destination; generate predicted energy consumption rates for each of the potential routings and related vehicle motion control operations using a vehicle energy consumption model; score each of the plurality of potential routings and related vehicle motion control operations based on the corresponding predicted energy consumption rates; select one of the plurality of potential routings and related vehicle motion control operations having the lowest predicted energy consumption score; modify the related vehicle motion control operations to lower the autonomous vehicle's energy consumption over the selected routing if the score of the selected routing is not within an acceptable range; and output, to at least one of the plurality of vehicle control subsystems, a vehicle motion control output representing the selected routing and related vehicle motion control operations, wherein the related vehicle motion control operations include vehicle motion control operations to cause the vehicle to draft a leading vehicle.