Australian automotive calculators
Australia measures fuel consumption in litres per 100 kilometres, which runs the opposite way to miles per gallon: a lower number is better. Both tools here work in that unit and convert to imperial figures rather than starting from them.
4 calculators in this section
L/100km
Real fuel consumption from a tank fill, plus conversion to and from MPG.
Open calculatorTrip fuel cost
What a trip costs at the pump price you actually paid, not a national average.
Open calculatorEV vs petrol
Yearly running cost of an EV against a petrol car.
Open calculatorCar cost
What a car really costs per year, week and kilometre.
Open calculatorQuestions these calculators answer
How do you calculate litres per 100km?
Divide the fuel used by the distance travelled, then multiply by 100. If you put in 42 litres after driving 560 kilometres, that is 42 ÷ 560 × 100 = 7.5 L/100km. Lower is better, which is the opposite of miles per gallon — the two measures run in opposite directions.
How do you calculate the fuel cost of a trip?
Divide the distance by 100, multiply by your litres per 100 km, then multiply by the price per litre. A 750 kilometre trip in a car using 8.2 L/100km at $1.95 a litre costs 7.5 × 8.2 × 1.95 = $119.93 one way, or about $240 return.
Is an electric car cheaper to run than a petrol car in Australia?
Usually yes. Driving 15,000 km a year, a petrol car using 8.5 L/100 km at $2.05/L costs about $2,614 in fuel, and an EV using 17.0 kWh/100 km with 85% charged at home at 30c per kWh and the rest at 55c costs about $861. The saving is around $2,153 a year once servicing is included.
How much does it cost to run a car?
Add depreciation to the running costs. A $35,000 car kept 5 years and sold for $18,000 loses $3,400 a year; with fuel of $1,920 and the other costs entered, the car costs about $8,570 a year, $164.81 a week and $0.71 a kilometre. The figures here are examples to replace with your own.
Why the fuel price is a field, not a constant
Australian pump prices move on a cycle that differs by city and can swing twenty cents a litre inside a fortnight, and there is no free, authoritative national feed a static page could cite. Hardcoding a number would mean quietly serving a stale one.
So the fuel cost tool asks for the price you are actually paying. It is one more field, and it is the difference between a trip estimate that reflects this week and one that reflects whenever the page was last edited.
Other AU sections
Registration costs and luxury car tax sit in the tax section.