# Fuel Cost Calculator — Trip & Gas Cost Estimator

> Estimate the total fuel cost for any road trip. Enter distance, fuel consumption, and gas price. Supports metric and imperial units, multi-currency, instant, free.

- **Category:** Lifestyle & Everyday
- **Interactive calculator:** https://youcalc.com/en/lifestyle-everyday/fuel-cost/
- **Price:** Free, no sign-up required

## Overview

This calculator tells you exactly how much fuel a road trip will cost before you leave. Enter the one-way distance, your vehicle's fuel consumption, and the local price per litre (or per gallon in imperial mode). Add passengers to see how much each person owes, or toggle round-trip to double the distance automatically.

## How to read your result

The three headline cards show litres used, total fuel cost, and cost per person. Below the cards, a line chart traces how total cost rises as distance increases — the x-axis is distance in your chosen units and the y-axis is the running fuel cost. A data table under the chart lists the cost at each sampled distance point so you can read off any milestone. For round trips the chart already reflects the doubled distance.

## Method

Fuel used (litres) = (distance in km ÷ 100) × L/100km × (2 for round-trip, 1 for one-way). Total cost = litres used × price per litre. Cost per person = total cost ÷ number of people. Imperial inputs (miles, MPG, price per gallon) are converted to metric before the formula runs: miles to km via ×1.609344, MPG to L/100km via 235.21 ÷ MPG, and gallons to litres via ×3.785412.

## Example

- **Setup:** A 500 km one-way drive at 8 L/100km with fuel priced at 1.80 per litre, split among 4 people.
- **Result:** The car uses 40 litres. Total cost comes to 72.00; each person pays 18.00.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is L/100km and how do I find my vehicle's figure?

Litres per 100 kilometres measures how many litres your car burns to travel 100 km — lower is more efficient. Most manufacturers publish this value in the owner's manual or on the fuel-economy label. Typical values range from 5 L/100km for a small efficient car up to 14 L/100km for a large SUV or truck.

### How do I use miles per gallon (MPG) instead?

Switch the unit toggle to Imperial. The calculator converts your miles and MPG figures to kilometres and L/100km internally — the formula stays the same, and you never see metric numbers unless you want to.

### Does round-trip simply double everything?

Yes. Selecting round-trip doubles the effective distance before computing litres and cost. The per-person split is then applied to that doubled total.

### Why does the chart start at zero cost?

The chart plots cost as a function of distance from 0 to your entered distance. A zero-distance trip uses no fuel, so the line starts at the origin and rises linearly — the slope reflects your vehicle's efficiency and the fuel price.

### Does this account for tolls, parking, or wear on the car?

No. The calculator covers fuel cost only. For a full trip budget you would add toll fees, parking charges, and a per-kilometre vehicle maintenance allowance on top of the fuel figure.

## Related calculators

- [Electricity Cost Calculator](https://youcalc.com/en/lifestyle-everyday/electricity-cost/)
- [Fuel Economy Converter](https://youcalc.com/en/conversions-units/fuel-economy-converter/)
- [Tip Calculator](https://youcalc.com/en/lifestyle-everyday/tip/)
- [Discount Calculator](https://youcalc.com/en/lifestyle-everyday/discount/)
- [Auto Loan Calculator](https://youcalc.com/en/finance-money/auto-loan/)

## Sources

- https://www.fueleconomy.gov/trip/
- https://www.aaa.com/autorepair/articles/your-driving-costs

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Interactive version: https://youcalc.com/en/lifestyle-everyday/fuel-cost/ · From YouCalc — https://youcalc.com