Fuel Cost Calculator
Local only — nothing is uploaded unless you save or share it.
A fuel cost calculator for any drive — your units, your currency, split however you like.
- Put in the distance, in kilometres or miles
- Say what the car drinks, in l/100km, mpg or km/l
- Add the fuel price, and split it between passengers if you are sharing
Fuel for this journey
In whatever currency the fuel price is in — no rate is applied. Real consumption varies with speed, load and traffic.
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About this tool
Petrol is the cost people are worst at estimating, because none of the three numbers involved are in units anybody thinks in. You know the drive is 380 kilometres, that the car does about 6.5 litres per 100, and that diesel is around 13 a litre — and turning that into "what will this trip cost me" is arithmetic nobody does at the pump. This petrol cost calculator does it. Working out the fuel cost for a journey takes three numbers: put in the distance, what the car drinks and what fuel costs, and you get the total, the litres, and the cost per kilometre and per mile. Tick the return box and it counts the journey both ways; say how many of you are going and it splits the total. As a cost of a trip calculator it is really a units problem, which is why it exists rather than being a multiplication you do in your head. Consumption comes as litres per 100 km in most of Europe, miles per gallon in Britain and America — and the British gallon is about 20% larger than the American one, which is the single most common way this calculation goes wrong. Distance comes in kilometres or miles. Price comes per litre or per gallon. All of them are supported and converted properly, so you never have to do a conversion before doing the sum. There is no currency setting on purpose. The answer comes out in whatever the fuel price went in as — kroner, pounds, euros, dollars — because no exchange rate is involved in a journey you are paying for at home. Nothing is fetched and nothing is uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
How do I work out fuel cost for a trip?
Distance divided by 100, times the litres per 100 km, times the price per litre. For a 380 km drive at 6.5 l/100km with fuel at 13 a litre, that is 3.8 × 6.5 = 24.7 litres, and 24.7 × 13 = about 321. The page does exactly that, and converts whichever units you have into the ones the sum needs. Americans will know it as a gas cost calculator; the arithmetic is the same once the gallon is named.
Which gallon does mpg mean?
Whichever you pick, and it matters more than most people expect. The imperial gallon used in the UK is 4.546 litres and the US gallon is 3.785 — about 20% apart — so 40 mpg in Britain is roughly 33 mpg in America for the same car. Both are offered separately for that reason; treating them as one is the classic way this calculation comes out a fifth wrong.
Which currency does it use?
Yours. No currency is assumed and no exchange rate is fetched — the total comes out in whatever unit the fuel price went in as. That is the right answer for a journey you are paying for where you live, and it means the tool is equally correct in kroner, euros, pounds and dollars.
Does it account for traffic, load or driving style?
No, and nothing can. Real consumption varies with speed, terrain, a roof box, a full car and how heavy your foot is — easily by 20% either way. The number here is what your stated consumption figure implies. If you want it accurate for your own car, use the figure from its trip computer over a few tanks rather than the manufacturer's, which is measured under conditions nobody drives in. The per-mile figure doubles as a cost per mile calculator if you are comparing two routes or two cars.
Can it split the cost between passengers?
Yes — say how many of you are travelling and it divides the total. Handy for working out what to ask for towards petrol, which is a conversation that goes better with a number attached to it than a guess.
Does it work for electric cars?
Not directly, and it would be misleading to pretend. An EV's consumption is kWh per 100 km and its price is per kWh, which is the same shape of sum with different units — but charging costs vary so much between home, work and a motorway charger that a single price figure means much less than a fuel price does. Say so on the contact page if you want it; it would be a separate tool honestly labelled.
Is anything I type sent anywhere?
No. It calculates in your browser and stores nothing. Where you are driving and how often is not information a website needs.
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