Fuel Consumption Calculator

Two ways to measure fuel economy

Europe and most of the world state fuel consumption as liters per 100 km (lower is better). The US uses miles per gallon (higher is better), and the UK uses miles per imperial gallon, which is larger than a US gallon. Some countries use kilometers per liter.

Conversion formulas

km/L = 100 ÷ (L/100 km). US mpg = 235.215 ÷ (L/100 km). UK mpg = 282.481 ÷ (L/100 km). Because the relationship is inverse, halving the L/100 km figure doubles the mpg.

Worked example

A car that uses 6 L/100 km travels 100 ÷ 6 = 16.7 km per liter. That is 235.215 ÷ 6 = 39.2 mpg in the US and 282.481 ÷ 6 = 47.1 mpg in the UK.

Starting from mpg

If you know your car's mpg, use the MPG to L/100 km converter, which takes US or UK mpg as input and also compares two cars.

How do I convert L/100 km to mpg?

Divide 235.215 by the L/100 km figure for US mpg, or 282.481 for UK mpg. 8 L/100 km is 29.4 mpg (US).

Why is UK mpg higher than US mpg for the same car?

A UK (imperial) gallon is 4.546 liters and a US gallon is 3.785 liters, so a car goes further on a UK gallon.

Is 5 L/100 km good fuel economy?

Yes. 5 L/100 km is about 47 mpg (US), which is typical of efficient small cars and hybrids.

How do I calculate km per liter?

Divide 100 by the L/100 km figure: 5 L/100 km is 20 km/L.