Free tool
Road trip gas cost calculator
Treader is a free group trip planner that puts every stop on one live map and checks the plan against sunset and public holidays on your dates. Made in Canada.
Name where the drive starts and ends, or type the distance. Add what your car uses and the price you expect to pay, and the fuel cost comes out in total and per person.
Work out the fuel cost
Pick where the drive starts and where it goes, or type a distance you know. Add your car’s consumption and the price you expect to pay. Your figures stay on this page unless you save them.
Get the driving distance, or switch to a distance you know.
01
The formula
Fuel cost is distance times consumption times price. In kilometres and litres:
- Litres = kilometres × L/100 km ÷ 100
- Cost = litres × price per litre
- Each person’s share = cost ÷ people sharing it
- A return trip doubles the kilometres
02
A worked Canadian example
A 950 km drive in a car that uses 8 L/100 km burns 950 × 8 ÷ 100 = 76 L. At CAD 1.60 a litre that is CAD 121.60, or CAD 30.40 each for 4 people. There and back, it is 152 L and CAD 243.20. The CAD 1.60 a litre is an example, not today’s price: use the price on the signs where you will fill up, in dollars. A sign that reads 162.9 is 1.629.
03
Litres per 100 km, US mpg and Imperial mpg
Canada rates fuel use in litres per 100 km, where a lower number uses less. Miles per gallon runs the other way: a higher number uses less. The gallon is the catch. A US gallon is 3.785 litres and an Imperial gallon, the one older Canadian and British figures use, is 4.546 litres, so the same car reads about 20% higher in Imperial mpg than in US mpg. Pick the unit your figure is in and the calculator converts it.
- 8 L/100 km is about 29.4 US mpg and 35.3 Imperial mpg
- L/100 km = 235.21 ÷ US mpg
- L/100 km = 282.48 ÷ Imperial mpg
- Prices can be per litre, per US gallon or per Imperial gallon, in Canadian or US dollars; the calculator never converts between dollars
04
What the estimate leaves out
It is the fuel only. Tolls, ferry fares, parking, park passes, food and beds are not in it. It also assumes one consumption figure for the whole drive, and a loaded car, mountain grades, cold weather and highway speeds all use more than a car’s rating. It is for gas and diesel cars, not electric ones.
05
Route examples
Driving distances from Parks Canada and Transport Canada, checked 2 October 2026, with the fuel each takes at 8 L/100 km. Multiply by the price per litre you expect to pay.
- Lake Louise to Jasper on the Icefields Parkway: 232 km, about 18.6 L
- Jasper to Calgary: 404 km, about 32.3 L
- Victoria to St. John’s on the Trans-Canada Highway: 7,821 km by the official count, which crosses to Vancouver Island and to Newfoundland by car ferry; about 626 L if all of it were driven
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Limits
The driving distance is for the route between the two places you pick, one way; a return trip assumes the same road back. A route with a car ferry counts the crossing in its distance, so its fuel comes out a little high. The price is the one you type: the calculator does not look up pump prices, which change by town and by week. The result is an estimate to plan with, not a quote.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What people ask before they plan a first trip. The docs go further.
Read the docs01 How do I calculate the gas cost of a road trip?
Multiply the kilometres by your car’s litres per 100 km and divide by 100 to get the litres, then multiply by the price per litre. 950 km at 8 L/100 km is 76 L; at an example price of CAD 1.60 a litre that is CAD 121.60, or CAD 30.40 each for 4 people.
02 How much gas does a 1,000 km trip use?
About 80 litres in a car that uses 8 L/100 km, and 100 litres at 10 L/100 km. Multiply the litres by the price per litre you expect to pay.
03 How do I convert mpg to L/100 km?
Divide 235.21 by US mpg, or 282.48 by Imperial mpg. 30 US mpg is about 7.8 L/100 km, and 30 Imperial mpg is about 9.4 L/100 km.
04 Does the calculator look up gas prices?
No. You type the price you expect to pay, per litre or per gallon. Prices change by province, by town and by week, so check the signs where you will fill up.
05 Can I save the route as a trip?
Yes. Once the calculator has a driving route and a price, “Save this route and fuel budget” makes your free account, or uses yours, and a trip with the start and end on day one. Every trip keeps the distance and litres as a note on the first stop; Pro, $4.99 CAD a month, also keeps your price and passengers as a fuel plan that prices every driving leg as the trip grows. A typed distance has no places to put on a map, so the calculator asks for the start and end first.
06 Is my route kept anywhere?
Not with anything that identifies you. To find the places and the road between them, the names you type are sent to our server, which keeps lookups for up to an hour and routes for up to a week so the next one is quicker. Your car, price and passengers stay on this page until you save.
Price the drive, then plan the trip.
Save the route as a trip and plan the days on one map, with the driving time for every leg. Free for trips up to 7 days.
Work out the fuel cost Still deciding? Open a finished trip