Road trip
Road Trip Fuel Cost Calculator
Enter the distance, how far your car goes on a tank and what fuel costs. You get the fuel you will burn, the total and each person's share.
Use your own currency. Type only the number.
Route
Your trip
Fill in the distance, your fuel economy and the fuel price to see the cost.
The sums
How the cost is worked out
With miles per gallon, fuel is the distance divided by your mpg. Drive 300 miles at 30 mpg and you use 10 gallons. At 3.50 a gallon, that is 35.00.
With litres per 100 km, fuel is the distance in kilometres times your figure, divided by 100. Drive 500 km at 7 litres per 100 km and you use 35 litres. At 1.80 a litre, that is 63.00.
Choosing a round trip doubles the distance. The cost is then split evenly between the number of people you enter.
Getting the number right
Where to find your fuel economy
The most useful figure is your own. Fill the tank, reset the trip meter, drive as usual, then fill up again. Divide the miles by the gallons you just put in. Do it for a couple of tanks and take the average.
If you only have the manufacturer figure, expect real driving to land a little below it. Motorway driving at higher speeds uses noticeably more fuel than steady 55 to 60 mph cruising, and a loaded car with the air conditioning on uses more again.
Before you set off
What the total leaves out
Tolls, parking, ferries and congestion charges are extra, and so are detours to a lunch stop or a viewpoint. Add them to the total once you know them.
Fuel prices also change along the way. Prices on motorways and in remote areas are often higher than in town, so a slightly higher price than your local one gives a safer estimate.
Questions
Common questions
- How do I turn litres per 100 km into miles per gallon?
- Divide 235.2 by the litres per 100 km figure. A car that uses 7 litres per 100 km does about 33.6 miles per US gallon. Going the other way, divide 235.2 by the mpg.
- Is the mpg figure US or UK?
- US. A UK gallon is about 20 percent bigger than a US gallon, so a UK mpg figure needs multiplying by 0.83 before you enter it. A car doing 40 UK mpg does about 33 US mpg.
- Should the driver be counted in the split?
- Count everyone who is chipping in for fuel. If the driver is paying their share too, include them. If the driver rides free, leave them out and the others cover the whole amount.
- Why is my real fuel use higher than the estimate?
- Fuel economy figures usually come from easy driving. Fast motorway speeds, a full boot, a roof box, hills, cold weather and air conditioning all push the number down. Use the average from your own recent tanks, or add 10 percent as a cushion.
- Can I mix miles with litres, or kilometres with gallons?
- Yes. Pick the distance unit and the fuel economy unit separately. The fuel price label follows the economy unit, so it asks for a price per gallon with mpg and a price per litre with litres per 100 km.