Mileage Calculator
Calculate your vehicle's fuel efficiency (MPG), estimate trip fuel costs, and compare the savings from improving your gas mileage.
Average MPG by Vehicle Type (2024)
| Vehicle Type | Avg. MPG |
|---|---|
| Compact Car | 30–35 mpg |
| Midsize Sedan | 28–32 mpg |
| SUV (small) | 25–30 mpg |
| SUV (large) / Pickup Truck | 17–22 mpg |
| Hybrid | 45–55 mpg |
| Electric | 100+ MPGe |
Frequently Asked Questions
Fill up your tank, reset your trip odometer, drive until near empty, then fill up again. MPG = miles driven ÷ gallons used on the second fill-up.
Keep tires properly inflated, avoid rapid acceleration and hard braking, remove excess weight, use cruise control on highways, and follow the manufacturer's maintenance schedule.
Fuel economy
Fill the tank, reset the trip meter, drive normally, then fill up again. The gallons on the second fill divided into the miles on the trip meter gives real-world MPG.
Example: 347 miles on 12.4 gallons = 347 ÷ 12.4 = 28.0 MPG.
Measuring across one tank is noisy. Three or four consecutive fills give a far more reliable figure, since a single tank can be skewed by one long motorway run or a week of short cold starts.
Cost per mile
At $3.60 a gallon and 28 MPG: 3.60 ÷ 28 = $0.129 per mile.
That single number makes decisions much easier. A 240-mile round trip costs about $31 in fuel. A job 15 miles further from home each way costs roughly $900 a year in extra fuel alone, before wear and time.
Metric equivalents
Most of the world measures consumption rather than economy — litres per 100 km, where lower is better.
| MPG (US) | L/100km |
|---|---|
| 20 | 11.8 |
| 25 | 9.4 |
| 30 | 7.8 |
| 40 | 5.9 |
| 50 | 4.7 |
Note also that a UK gallon is about 20% larger than a US gallon, so UK MPG figures look better for the same car. Check which is being quoted before comparing.
What moves your real MPG
- Speed. Aerodynamic drag rises with the square of speed. Sustained high-speed driving hurts economy sharply.
- Short trips. A cold engine runs rich. Several short journeys burn far more than one longer trip of the same total distance.
- Tyre pressure. Underinflation raises rolling resistance measurably.
- Weight and roof boxes. A roof rack left on all year costs fuel every mile.
- Stop-start traffic. Accelerating repeatedly from rest is where fuel disappears fastest.
Manufacturer figures come from standardised test cycles. Treat them as a basis for comparing cars, not a prediction of your own driving.