If you own a vehicle, gas is just something you need to buy: you fill up the tank when it gets low. It's often hard to budget for fuel costs because it's not a fixed cost (the same amount every month) like your auto insurance. Instead, there are many factors that can affect your fuel costs from month to month.

Fuel Costs

It's important when purchasing or leasing a vehicle, to consider how much money it will cost you in fuel. In the Minds On activity, your class probably came up with a long list of factors that affect fuel cost. It would be difficult to use all of those factors to calculate your costs exactly, but you can estimate your fuel costs by considering the three most important factors.

1. Fuel Consumption of the vehicle
2. Cost of fuel per litre
3. Distance travelled

In this activity you will estimate the fuel cost of driving each of the two vehicles you're considering buying. You will use the Fuel Cost tab of the Car Cost Calculator spreadsheet to organize the information you need.

1. Fuel Consumption

Fuel consumption is the amount of fuel that a vehicle uses to drive a set distance. In Canada, this is usually quoted in litres per 100 km (L/100 km). Choosing a fuel efficient vehicle means you can save a significant amount of money on fuel costs. The fuel consumption ratings for all vehicles going back to 1995 can be found at this Government of Canada Website (or use this link to download the efficiency tables).

To use the charts:

1. Find the spreadsheet for the year of your vehicle
2. Open the spreadsheet and find the make and model of your vehicle
3. Use the combined fuel consumption (L/100 KM)

2. Fuel Cost

Diana Schnuth via Flickr

The price of gasoline can vary depending on where you live in the province. Below are some factors that affect the price of gas. Taxes - some cities have additional taxes on gasoline. Competition - gas stations will lower their prices in order to remain competitive with other local stations. Transport Cost - stations further away from refineries may raise their prices to compensate for their higher delivery charges. Volume - The more fuel a station can buy from its supplier, the better rate it can get on the fuel. Stations that sell a lot of fuel can pass this saving on to their customers. Type of Station - A gas station with an attached store, car wash or restaurant will often lower its price in order to attract customers to the other business.

3. Distance Travelled

It's pretty obvious that the further you drive, the more fuel you will use. If you own a vehicle, gas is just something you need to buy: you fill up the tank when it's getting low. But knowing how far you drive every month is an important part of being able to budget for fuel costs.

Axel Drainville / flickr.com

How to Calculate Fuel Cost

Total fuel cost for any trip can be calculated by multiplying the distance travelled by the fuel consumption and cost of fuel per litre. You can write the equation as:

Example

A car’s fuel consumption is 5.9 L/100 km. If Amrit drives 25 km to work and works 5 days per week, how much will he spend on fuel in one month if fuel costs 104.9¢/L?

This video will take you through the solution to the above gas consumption problem.

Part 1

You drive 40 km one way to work. You estimate that you drive an extra 100 km each week for personal reasons and to run errands. How many kilometres do you drive each month if there are 4 weeks in a month?

Part 2

You are driving a vehicle that has a fuel consumption of 7.84L/100km. How many litres of fuel will you need per month?

Part 3

If it costs 104.9¢/L for gas, how much will you spend on fuel per month?

Factors Affecting Fuel Efficiency

The fuel consumption ratings for vehicles only tell part of the story. Your driving habits, and how well you maintain your vehicle can have a big impact on how much fuel you use. The video below shows some of the factors that can affect fuel efficiency of a vehicle.