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TravelCostKit

True driving cost

Cost per mile / kilometre calculator

Fuel is only part of what a drive costs. Add maintenance, depreciation, tolls and parking to see the real cost of every mile or kilometre — and where the money goes.

Trip costs

Distance
miles

The whole trip, there and back.

Costs for the trip
$

Use the fuel or EV calculator to work this out.

$

Tyres, servicing, oil. 0 to ignore.

$

The value your car loses over the trip's distance. 0 to ignore.

$

Cost per mile

$0.200

Total trip cost $120.00 over 600 miles
Fuel / electricity per mile
$0.133
Maintenance per mile
$0.033
Depreciation per mile
$0.025
Tolls & parking per mile
$0.008
  • Fuel / electricity$80.00
  • Maintenance$20.00
  • Depreciation$15.00
  • Tolls & parking$5.00

How the cost per mile is calculated

total = fuel + maintenance + depreciation + tolls & parking
cost per mile = total ÷ distance

Each component is also divided by the distance, so you can see which part of the trip costs the most per mile. Leave any component at 0 to exclude it.

Worked example

A 600-mile round trip uses $80 of fuel. Adding $20 of maintenance, $15 of depreciation and $5 of tolls gives a total of $120, which is 120 ÷ 600 = $0.20 per mile. Fuel alone was only $0.13 per mile — the extras add half as much again.

What to include

  • Fuel or electricity: work it out first with the fuel cost calculator or the EV charging calculator.
  • Maintenance: tyres, oil and servicing wear out with distance. A small allowance per mile keeps the figure honest.
  • Depreciation: every mile reduces a car's value a little. This matters most when deciding between driving your own car and another option.
  • Tolls and parking: easy to forget, and on some routes they exceed the fuel cost.

Deciding between driving and flying? The driving vs flying calculator builds these costs into a full comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my cost per mile higher than the fuel cost alone?
Because fuel is only one component. Maintenance, depreciation, tolls and parking all add up over distance — often doubling the fuel-only figure on long trips.
What maintenance figure should I use?
If you don't know, leave it at 0 for a best-case figure. Otherwise divide your annual maintenance spend by your annual distance and multiply by the trip distance.
Can I use kilometres?
Yes — switch the unit and everything is shown per kilometre instead.
Does this work for electric cars?
Yes. Use the EV charging calculator to get the electricity cost, then enter it as the fuel cost here.

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