Fuel Cost Calculator
Estimate the fuel cost of a trip from distance, consumption and price.
Planning a drive? Enter how far you are going, your car’s fuel consumption and the price of fuel, and this calculator estimates how much the trip will cost and how much fuel you’ll burn. It works with any currency — just keep the price in the units you use.
Formula / method
Examples
12.00
54.00
Estimating a trip's fuel cost
The calculator combines three inputs: how far you are travelling, how much fuel your vehicle uses, and the price per unit of fuel. It works out how much fuel the journey needs and multiplies that by the price to give a total cost estimate.
Consistent units are essential. If your consumption is in litres per 100 km, keep distance in kilometres and price per litre; if you use miles per gallon, keep distance in miles and price per gallon.
Why real cost can differ
Your actual spend varies with driving conditions. City traffic, heavy loads, hills, air conditioning and high motorway speeds all raise consumption above the rated figure, so treat the result as a planning estimate rather than an exact bill.
For a round trip, remember to double the distance. To split the total among passengers, divide the result by the number of people, or use the Unit Price Calculator to compare the per-person cost against other travel options.
Where it's used
- Budgeting the fuel cost of a road trip or holiday drive
- Splitting fuel costs fairly among carpool passengers
- Comparing the running cost of two cars with different consumption
- Estimating a commute's monthly fuel spend
- Deciding whether driving or public transport is cheaper for a route
Real-world examples
- A 100 km trip in a car using 7.5 L/100km at 1.60 per liter costs about 12.00 in fuel.
- A 500 km weekend drive at 6 L/100km and 1.80 per liter works out to 54.00; split among 4 people that is 13.50 each.
- Comparing a 5 L/100km hybrid with a 9 L/100km SUV over 300 km shows the SUV costs almost double.
Did you know?
Fuel economy is measured in two opposite directions: liters per 100 km, where lower is better, and miles per gallon, where higher is better. Because they are inverses, you cannot swap between them with a simple multiplier.
FAQ
My car shows mpg, not L/100km — what do I do?
Convert your mileage to liters per 100 km first (or use a fuel-economy reference), then enter that value here for an accurate estimate.