Fuel Cost Calculator

Planning a road trip? Comparing fuel costs between two vehicles? This calculator takes the guesswork out of fuel budgeting. Enter your car's fuel consumption, the distance, and local fuel prices to get the exact cost.

• Road trip budgeting: Calculate fuel costs before a long drive so you can plan stops and budget accurately.
• Vehicle comparison: Compare the annual fuel cost of a 6 L/100km hybrid vs a 12 L/100km SUV.
• Fleet management: Estimate monthly fuel spend for a delivery vehicle with known routes.
• Commute cost analysis: Calculate how much your daily commute costs per year.

1. 1Enter the trip distance in kilometers.
2. 2Enter your vehicle's fuel efficiency in L/100km (check your car manual or instrument cluster).
3. 3Enter the current fuel price per liter.
4. 4The calculator multiplies distance by efficiency and divides by 100 to get liters needed.
5. 5Liters × price = total cost.

• Mixing km/L and L/100km: These are inverse measures. A car doing 15 km/L (high is efficient) and one doing 7 L/100km (low is efficient) are the same car. Check your dashboard or manual to know which your vehicle uses and enter accordingly.
• Using highway efficiency for city driving: Manufacturers state fuel efficiency at highway speeds. City driving with stops and starts uses 20-40% more fuel. Use a real-world figure from your fuel receipts for an accurate trip estimate.
• Forgetting to include the return trip: If the calculator shows one-way cost, double it for a round trip. This is an easy oversight when budgeting a road trip.
• Using an outdated fuel price: Fuel prices change weekly. Check the current pump price at your planned route rather than using a remembered price from last fill-up. The difference on a long trip can be significant.

• Compare rental vs own-car cost: Run this calculator for your own vehicle, then for the rental car's stated fuel economy. Combined with the rental daily rate, you can make a data-driven decision on which is cheaper for a specific trip.
• Account for altitude and load: Towing, carrying extra passengers, driving at altitude, and running AC all reduce fuel efficiency. Subtract 10-20% from your baseline efficiency figure for heavily loaded or hilly routes.
• Use it for fleet vehicle selection: When comparing vehicle options for a business fleet, run 12 months of expected mileage through both vehicles' fuel economy figures. The annual fuel cost difference often justifies a higher-efficiency model.
• Calculate cost per kilometre for expense reports: Divide total trip cost by distance to get cost per kilometre. Many employer reimbursement policies use per-kilometre rates. Compare with the reimbursement rate to see whether the trip is fully covered.