Priced at this week’s gas prices
Fuel cost calculator
Pick your state and your car to see what a trip, a full tank and a year of driving cost in fuel. Prices come from the EIA’s weekly survey, and you can swap in the price at your own station.
250 miles in the U.S.
$36.28
8.3 gallons at $4.35 a gallon
- Per mile
- 14.5¢
- A full tank
- $65.31
- about 450 miles
- A year of driving
- $1,742
- $145 a month
Ways to spend less on the same trip
Slow down a little on the highway. Aerodynamic drag rises steeply with speed, and most cars lose noticeable fuel economy above about 50 mph. Dropping from 75 to 65 on a long run is one of the cheapest savings available.
Fill up before the state line, or after it. State fuel tax alone can differ by 20¢ a gallon or more between neighbours. Each state page shows how its tax compares with the states around it.
Keep tyres at the pressure on the door sticker. Under-inflated tyres add rolling resistance on every mile, and pressure drops as the weather cools.
Buy premium only if the manual requires it. If it merely recommends premium, regular is safe and typically around 80¢ a gallon cheaper. Switch the fuel above to see the difference on your trip.
About this calculator
- How is the trip cost worked out?
- Distance divided by your car's miles per gallon gives the gallons the trip burns. Multiply that by the price per gallon and you have the fuel cost. A 300-mile trip in a car that gets 30 mpg uses 10 gallons; at $3.50 a gallon that is $35.
- Where do the prices come from?
- Every price starts from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly survey of retail fuel prices, published each Tuesday. Nine states are surveyed individually. For the rest we take the regional average and adjust it for the state's own fuel tax, which is the biggest fixed difference between neighbouring states. You can type in the price at your local station instead.
- What fuel economy should I use?
- The most accurate figure is your own: fill the tank, reset the trip meter, and at the next fill-up divide the miles driven by the gallons it took. Failing that, the EPA combined rating on fueleconomy.gov is a good guide, though most cars do somewhat worse on fast highway driving, in cold weather or with a heavy load.
- Does the calculator include tolls, wear or parking?
- No. It covers fuel only. The IRS standard mileage rate, which also allows for depreciation, insurance and maintenance, is a better guide to the full cost of using a car for a trip.