Trip Fuel Cost Calculator

This calculator works out the fuel cost of a trip in New Zealand from the distance, your vehicle's fuel economy and the price of fuel, with options for a return journey and splitting the cost between passengers. Whether you are planning a weekend away, budgeting a long road trip, or working out a fair contribution for a carpool, knowing the fuel cost up front helps you compare driving against other options like flying or the bus, and avoids surprises at the pump. The maths is simple: the litres used is the distance times your fuel economy in litres per hundred kilometres, divided by a hundred, and the cost is those litres times the price per litre. You enter the one-way distance, your fuel economy, the fuel price, whether the trip is one-way or return, and the number of people sharing the ride, and the calculator returns the total fuel cost, the litres used, and the cost per person. Use your real-world economy figure for accuracy, since open-road driving differs from town, and remember this covers fuel only, not the wear, tyres, servicing and depreciation that make up the full cost of running a vehicle. For those, a per-kilometre running-cost figure gives the bigger picture. An estimate to plan and split your trip.

$
$89.60
total fuel cost for the trip
Fuel used32.0 L
Per person$89.60

Covers fuel only, not wear, tyres or servicing. Use your real-world economy for accuracy. An estimate for planning only.

How it works

The total distance is the one-way distance, doubled for a return trip. The litres used is the total distance times the economy in litres per 100 kilometres, divided by 100. The fuel cost is the litres times the price per litre, and dividing by the number of people gives the cost per person.

Worked example

A 200 kilometre return trip is 400 kilometres. At 8 litres per 100 kilometres that is 32 litres, and at 2.80 dollars a litre the fuel costs about 89.60 dollars, or the same per person if you travel alone, halved if two of you share.

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