What is a fuel cost calculator?
A fuel cost calculator estimates how much fuel a trip will use and what that fuel may cost. Enter the trip distance, your vehicle's usual efficiency and the fuel price you expect to pay. The calculator shows estimated fuel used, the trip fuel cost and a normalized cost per 100 kilometres or 100 miles.
This tool runs in your browser, so the travel and fuel figures you enter are not uploaded or stored. It supports both common measurement conventions: kilometres with litres per 100 kilometres, and miles with miles per gallon. Use the unit system that matches your vehicle and fuel-price information.
How to estimate trip fuel cost
- Choose Metric for kilometres and litres per 100 kilometres, or Imperial for miles and MPG.
- Enter the planned route distance.
- Enter the vehicle's real-world fuel use or fuel economy.
- Enter the expected price per litre or per gallon.
- Review the estimated fuel quantity, trip cost and normalized cost.
For a 300 km trip at 7.5 litres per 100 km, the vehicle uses an estimated 22.5 litres. At a fuel price of 1.50 per litre, that fuel costs 33.75 in the same currency unit. The result does not add a currency symbol because the calculator works with any currency you use consistently.
How the fuel calculation works
In metric mode, fuel used equals distance multiplied by litres per 100 km, divided by 100. The trip cost equals fuel used multiplied by price per litre. In MPG mode, fuel used equals miles divided by miles per gallon, then trip cost equals gallons used multiplied by price per gallon.
These measures describe efficiency in opposite directions. A lower litres-per-100-km figure means a vehicle uses less fuel, while a higher MPG figure means it travels farther on each gallon. The cost-per-100-distance figure gives a quick way to compare trips or vehicles using the same selected unit system.
Why the result is only an estimate
Actual fuel use can differ from a published rating or a previous trip. Speed, traffic, hills, weather, load, tyre pressure, air conditioning, driving style, detours and idling all affect consumption. Fuel prices can also vary between stations and change before a journey. This calculator covers fuel only; it excludes tolls, parking, maintenance, depreciation and other travel costs. Use your own recent efficiency and likely fuel price for a more useful planning estimate, then allow room in a trip budget for variation.