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🚗 Budget & Living

Fuel Cost Calculator

Work out how much fuel a trip will cost from the distance, your car's economy and the petrol price.

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Total Distance
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About This Fuel Cost Calculator

This free fuel cost calculator estimates how much petrol or diesel a trip will cost. It multiplies your distance by your car's fuel economy (litres per 100km) to find the fuel used, then multiplies by the price per litre. Choose one-way or return for the total trip.

This is general information only. Real fuel use varies with driving style, traffic, load and conditions. It does not include tolls, parking or vehicle wear.

Fuel is one of the biggest running costs of car ownership in Australia, especially for outer-suburban and regional drivers with long commutes. This calculator combines three things — the distance you drive, your car's fuel consumption in litres per 100 km, and the price you pay per litre — to show what a trip, a week or a year of driving actually costs.

As a worked example: a 40 km daily round-trip commute in a car that uses 8 L/100 km, with fuel at $2.00 a litre, costs about $6.40 a day — roughly $32 a work week and over $1,600 a year. Small changes to any of the three inputs move the annual figure noticeably.

If you want to cut the number down, the levers are consumption and price. Keeping tyres at the right pressure, removing roof racks you are not using and driving smoothly all reduce litres per 100 km, while timing purchases against the petrol price cycle in capital cities and using fuel price apps helps on the price side.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the fuel cost of a trip calculated?+
Distance × fuel economy (L/100km) ÷ 100 gives the litres used. Multiply that by the price per litre to get the cost.
What is a typical fuel economy figure?+
Small cars use roughly 6–8 L/100km, mid-size cars 7–9, and larger SUVs 9–12. Check your car's official combined figure or your own trip data.
Does this include other car costs?+
No — this covers fuel only. For total ownership costs including insurance, rego and servicing, use the Car Running Cost calculator.
How do I calculate the fuel cost of a trip?+
Divide the trip distance by 100, multiply by your car's consumption in L/100 km, then multiply by the price per litre. A 200 km trip at 8 L/100 km and $2.00 a litre costs 200 ÷ 100 × 8 × 2 = $32.
What is a good fuel consumption figure?+
As a rough guide, small cars often use around 5–7 L/100 km, mid-size cars 7–9, and larger SUVs and utes 9–12 or more. Your car's real-world figure is usually a little higher than the official lab figure.
Why do petrol prices rise and fall in cycles?+
Capital-city petrol prices in Australia move in regular discounting cycles — retailers gradually cut prices over days or weeks, then restore them sharply. Buying near the bottom of the cycle can save a meaningful amount over a year.

Related Tools

→ Car Running Cost→ Car Loan Calculator→ Budget Planner