Cost of daily commute comparison.

tomstickland

I've just being doing some sums on what it costs me to drive to work in petrol costs. I thought it would be quite interesting to compare this with others.

First estimate the distance from start to finish (I used google maps).
Double it for return journey.
Divide by mpg for gallons used.
Multiply by 4.54 to convert to litres.
Multiply by cost of fuel in pounds per litre.

ie: Cost = 2 * Distance / mpg * 4.54 * fuel_price

For me it's 13.1 miles cross country, managing about 35mpg, paying £1.15 per litre (out of date by the time this is posted).

That makes £3.90 per trip.
Multiply by 5 to give £25 per week.
Multiply by 4 to give £100 per month.

Allowing for holidays by using a 45/52 correction, I estimate it to be just over £1000 per year. If I had a car that managed 50mpg then It'd be 35/50ths cheaper, saving me £240 per year.
If it was Diesel then it'd be £220 saving per year.

If it was a motorbike with 90mpg then I reckon on saving £500 per year.

The funny thing is that if I drive like I stole it I'd probably manage 28mpg, which is only £17 per month more expensive than driving like miss Daisey.

Keith

34.6 miles each way, 69.2 miles return.

Tank of fuel on last reciept I can find 15.78 [EMAIL="Litres@109.9ppl"]Litres@109.9ppl[/EMAIL] = 3.47 gallons

One tank of fuel lasts two days, so 69.2 x 2 / 3.47 = 39.88 mpg

Per year = £17.35 per tank x 2.5 tanks per week x 47 (allowing for 5 weeks holiday, 1 week sick & 1 week of BHs) = £2,038.63

tomstickland

3.5 gallon tank! Is it a kit car?

Keith

tomstickland wrote: »

3.5 gallon tank! Is it a kit car?

Sports bike

tomstickland

Right, 40mpg from a bike!

Keith

They aren't as good as people think, the smaller 125's will return 50-60mpg. I'm surprised by my real world calculation as I don't hang about, most of journey is motorway riding.

Even factoring in oil, brake pads, tyres and a trip to the garage for a service I save about 3k over using the train when including parking, paper, coffee, quick beer before going home, etc. Never mind I save over an hour a day of travelling

BillScarab

Well for me it's a fiver a day

2 * 20 / 47 * 4.54 *1.29 = £4.98

allowing for a a couple of lunch time trips to the shops I reckon on 5 gallons of diesel a week for work. So basically I'm spending £1300 a year to get to work and back.

To think a few years ago I was doing the same commute in an old XJ6! Glad I don't run that anymore.

sjaypink

tomstickland wrote: »

I've just being doing some sums on what it costs me to drive to work in petrol costs. I thought it would be quite interesting to compare this with others.

First estimate the distance from start to finish (I used google maps).
Double it for return journey.
Divide by mpg for gallons used.
Multiply by 4.54 to convert to litres.
Multiply by cost of fuel in pounds per litre.

ie: Cost = 2 * Distance / mpg * 4.54 * fuel_price

For me it's 13.1 miles cross country, managing about 35mpg, paying £1.15 per litre (out of date by the time this is posted).

That makes £3.90 per trip.
Multiply by 5 to give £25 per week.
Multiply by 4 to give £100 per month.

Allowing for holidays by using a 45/52 correction, I estimate it to be just over £1000 per year. If I had a car that managed 50mpg then It'd be 35/50ths cheaper, saving me £240 per year.
If it was Diesel then it'd be £220 saving per year.

If it was a motorbike with 90mpg then I reckon on saving £500 per year.

The funny thing is that if I drive like I stole it I'd probably manage 28mpg, which is only £17 per month more expensive than driving like miss Daisey.

you're just showing off your math skills

AdrianHi

"Cost of fuel on daily commute"
At latest fuel prices for the diesel I buy it is 12.7p per mile and I'm getting 46mpg, so 18.4 miles (one way) x 2 and it's £4.67 in fuel.

Not 100% accurate but accounting for the full cost of the car over that distance it is something like £19.87 a day.

Lord_Lardington

Just backing up the bike mpg ... I've had lots of bikes of varying sizes and the most I ever got from a bike was around 60mpg from a CB125. My last bike (Suzuki 600 Bandit) never, ever got over 40mpg even when I rode it conservatively. They might be light machines with small engines but they often have mutliple carbs and spin upto extremely high revs.

Like Keith said, people expect them to be 200mpg paragons of frugality but they're definately not.

balsingh

now for a shocker, reclculate the same based on the fuel prices a year ago (approx. 80p/litre) and that will really surprise you. I know it costs me £15/week (approx. £700 year) more now compared to a year ago. I do a 100 mile daily commute.