What a trip costs in fuel
Distance, consumption and fuel price. What the trip really costs, tolls included, and whether the train was cheaper after all.
Your figures
Result
- Combustible47 €100,0 %
- Fuel
- $46.50
- Tolls and extras
- $0.00
- Fuel used
- 30.0
- Total distance
- 500
- Cost per unit of distance
- $0.093
- Cost per 100
- $9.30
What we assume
- This is fuel and tolls only. It is what the trip costs you today, not what the car costs to own.
- Constant consumption is assumed. Motorway driving at speed uses more than the mixed figure; heavy traffic uses more still.
- Air conditioning, a roof box or a full load can add 10% to 20% and are not accounted for.
How it is calculated
Distance times consumption gives the fuel used, and fuel times price gives the cost:
fuel = distance x consumption / 100
cost = fuel x price + tolls
What this number is good for
Comparing against a train ticket, or splitting the cost with the people in the car. What it is not good for is deciding whether owning the car is worth it: for that you need depreciation, insurance and maintenance, which are several times larger than the fuel and are the subject of the cost-per-mile calculator.
An example
500 each way at 6 l/100 km and 1.55 a litre comes to about 93 in fuel for the return trip, plus tolls. Split between four people that is roughly 23 each.
Frequently asked questions
What consumption figure should I use?
Your real one, measured from a tank fill, not the manufacturer figure. The gap is commonly 10% to 25%.
Does it include wear on the car?
No. This is the out-of-pocket cost of the journey. Ownership costs are a different and much larger number.
Why is motorway driving worse than the official figure?
Because drag rises with the square of speed. Above about 110 km/h consumption climbs quickly, and the official mixed cycle includes a lot of slower driving.
Keep calculating
All tools →- Split the cost of a tripThe awkward conversation, settled with a number. Fuel, tolls and extras split between everyone, or everyone except the driver.
- Real fuel economy calculatorFuel put in and distance covered. That is all it takes to know what your car really does, rather than what the trip computer claims.
- Cost per unit of distance of your carFuel is the part you notice and the smallest part of the bill. This adds the ones you do not: insurance, tax, servicing and, above all, depreciation.
Updated on 2026-08-26. Calculations run in your browser; nothing you type is sent to a server.