Road Trip Fuel Stops
Plan road-trip fuel stops from distance, tank size, fuel on board, consumption and the reserve you keep — where each fill-up falls, fuel bought, cost and time.
Range per tank and on the fuel you start with, the number and position of stops (fewest stops, reserve kept), the fill at each, total fuel and cost at your price, and driving time.
Example: 1 500 km with a 50 L tank holding 30 L, 7 L/100 km and a 5 L reserve: stops at 357 km and 1 000 km, 45 L each, 90 L bought (162 at 1.80/L), arriving with 15 L; 16.7 h at 90 km/h.
Fewest stops,
reserve kept.
How the range is computed, where the stops are placed, and what the arithmetic does not know.
Range
Fuel per unit distance is L/100 km ÷ 100 (or 1 ÷ mpg). The usable fuel in a tank is the fill level (all of it, or the share you fill to) minus the reserve you never go below, and the usable range is that divided by the consumption; the first leg uses the fuel on board at departure in the same way.
Placing stops
Each stop is placed at the latest point that keeps the reserve — driving each tank to the reserve gives the fewest stops for the trip. When the reserve alone would carry you to the end but you want to arrive with more fuel than that, one stop is added for the arrival fuel; it can be anywhere in a range the page prints, and the earliest point is shown. Fuel bought is the sum of fills; cost is at your price per litre or gallon.
What it does not know
Where the stations are (plan the real stop before each computed point), how consumption changes with hills, speed, load and wind, price differences along the route, and the time each stop takes. Speed gives driving time only. No consumption or price figures are embedded. Nothing leaves the browser; the same four anonymous usage counts as the rest of the site apply.
SOURCES
- fuel per km = L/100 km ÷ 100 (or 1 ÷ mpg); usable range = (fill level − reserve) ÷ fuel per km; each stop at the latest point that keeps the reserve — fewest stops
Last reviewed 21 September 2026. How results are checked: How we verify.