Fuel Cost Calculator

Values

Quick Fill

Mode

Currency

Trip Distance

Fuel Economy

Fuel Price

Passengers

Fill in the values and click Calculate to see results

Frequently Asked Questions

Multiply your trip distance by your fuel consumption per kilometre to get the fuel used, then multiply that volume by the fuel price per litre (or per gallon). For example, 500 km at 7 L/100km uses 35 L, and at $1.50 per litre that is $52.50. For a long road trip, add up the total distance of every leg, use your real-world fuel economy rather than the sticker number, and build in a 10 to 15 per cent buffer for detours and traffic. Enter distance, fuel economy, and price in this calculator and it does the rest.

Divide the total fuel cost by the distance in miles. For a US vehicle a direct shortcut is to divide the price per US gallon by the miles per gallon: $3.50 per gallon divided by 30 mpg gives $0.117 per mile. This calculator reports cost per km and cost per mile side by side so you do not have to do the division yourself.

Divide 235.2 by the US mpg value. For example, 30 US mpg equals about 7.84 L/100km. If the mpg figure is in imperial (UK) gallons, divide 282.5 instead, because the imperial gallon is larger. The conversion mode on this calculator shows all four fuel economy units at once so you never mix up the two gallons.

MPG (miles per gallon) tells you how far a car travels on one gallon of fuel, so a higher number is better. L/100km (litres per 100 km) tells you how much fuel a car uses to travel 100 km, so a lower number is better. The two are inversely related. For running cost and fuel consumption, L/100km is the more honest scale because it is linear in fuel used: a drop from 6 to 5 L/100km is a clear 16.7% saving. MPG is inversely related, so an improvement from 20 to 30 mpg saves far more than from 40 to 50 mpg. For fair comparisons across the US and Europe, convert both to a common unit, preferably L/100km.

It varies with your vehicle’s fuel economy and the fuel price. A car doing 30 US mpg at $3.50 per gallon costs about $0.117 per mile in fuel. In metric terms, dividing $52.50 by 500 km gives $0.105 per km. A more efficient car saves on both measures. Cost per km is the standard running-cost figure in metric markets, useful for quoting delivery fees and pricing jobs. Use this calculator to find your own figure, since it also accounts for your specific distance and price.

No. A US liquid gallon is 3.785411784 litres, while a UK imperial gallon is 4.54609 litres, about 20% larger. This means a given mpg figure in the UK represents better efficiency than the same number in the US. Always confirm which gallon a quoted mpg refers to before comparing vehicles across these markets.

Enter each car’s distance, fuel economy, and fuel price in the Compare two vehicles mode. The calculator reports the fuel used and fuel cost for each car plus the money saved by the cheaper option. Be sure to use the same distance and price for both unless you are testing a deliberate difference, so the comparison isolates the efficiency difference.

Not proportionally. Because mpg is inverse to fuel use, the savings from each extra mpg shrink as mpg rises. Going from 20 to 30 mpg saves a lot; going from 40 to 50 mpg saves much less, even though both are "10 mpg better." For a true running-cost comparison, use litres per 100 km or the cost per km and cost per mile that this calculator reports.

The calculation is mathematically exact given the numbers you enter, but real-world fuel economy varies with traffic, weather, load, tyre pressure, and driving style, and fuel prices fluctuate. For the most accurate estimate, enter your own measured fuel economy from recent fill-ups rather than the window sticker figure, and use a price slightly above the current pump price.

Multiply the distance by your fuel consumption per kilometre. At 7 L/100km, 500 km uses 500 × 0.07 = 35 litres. In mpg terms, divide the distance in miles by the mpg. The fuel used result in this calculator shows the volume in litres and also as US and UK gallons.

Multiply your one-way distance by two for the round trip, multiply by the number of working days in a month, and estimate the cost for that total distance. A 40 km round trip driven 22 days a month is 880 km; at 7 L/100km and $1.60 per litre that is about $98.60 per month or roughly $1,180 per year. Enter your figures in trip mode to get the exact number.

A good fuel economy depends on vehicle type. For a compact petrol car, 5 to 7 L/100km (34 to 47 US mpg) is excellent. For an SUV or pickup, 9 to 12 L/100km (20 to 26 US mpg) is typical. Hybrids achieve 3 to 5 L/100km (47 to 78 US mpg), and plug-in electric vehicles effectively eliminate liquid fuel costs for short commutes. Compare your vehicle’s figure against the conversion table on this page to see where it ranks.

It depends on the fuel economy advantage versus the price per litre in your area. Diesel engines are typically 20 to 30 per cent more efficient, but diesel fuel can cost more per litre. Use the Compare two vehicles mode on this calculator with your actual fuel economy and local pump prices to find the breakeven point. For long highway commutes, diesel usually wins; for short city trips, petrol or hybrid may be cheaper.

Maintain steady speeds, avoid rapid acceleration and braking, keep tyres inflated to the manufacturer’s spec, remove unnecessary roof racks, and service your engine regularly. Driving at 90 km/h instead of 110 km/h can improve fuel economy by 15 to 20 per cent. Enter your current and expected fuel economy into this calculator to see exactly how much money each improvement saves per year.

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