Driving Distance Cost
Free Driving Distance Cost calculator with clear step-by-step results.
About Driving Distance Cost
Fuel is only part of what a journey costs. Distance and consumption give the litres burned and therefore the fuel bill, but tyres, servicing intervals and depreciation all accrue per kilometre driven, and tolls and parking are real cash. Including a per-kilometre wear figure is what makes the total comparable against a train fare or a rental, which already have those costs built in.
Formulas
Fuel
Fuel cost = distance ÷ 100 × consumption × price per litre
Total
Total = fuel cost + distance × wear per km + tolls and parking
Worked example
With the default values below, Driving Distance Cost returns Total Cost of the Drive of $128.75. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Distance to driveminimum 0 km
- 500 km
- Fuel consumptionminimum 0.1 L/100km
- 7.5 L/100km
- Fuel price per litreminimum 0 $
- 1.7 $
- Tolls and parkingminimum 0 $
- 25 $
- Tyres, servicing and wearminimum 0 $/km
- 0.08 $/km
Results
- Total Cost of the Drive
- $128.75
- Fuel Cost
- $63.75
- Wear, Tolls and Parking
- $65.00
- All-in Cost per km
- $0.258
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Fuel
- 3Total
- 4Total Cost of the Drive= $128.75
- 5Fuel Cost= $63.75
- 6Wear, Tolls and Parking= $65.00
- 7All-in Cost per km= $0.258
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
- Fuel prices, tolls and running costs vary by region and vehicle. Use your own recorded consumption and local prices for a figure you can rely on.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Fuel prices, tolls and running costs vary by region and vehicle. Use your own recorded consumption and local prices for a figure you can rely on.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I use for the wear figure?
Around $0.05-0.12 per km covers tyres, servicing, brakes and fluids on a typical car. Official mileage reimbursement rates are higher because they also include insurance and depreciation.
Should I include depreciation?
For a like-for-like comparison against public transport, yes — add it to the wear figure. For deciding whether to make one extra trip in a car you already own, fuel plus wear is the marginal cost that matters.
How do I split the cost between passengers?
Divide the total by the number of people sharing. Car travel gets cheaper per person with each passenger, which is often what makes it beat rail for a group.