Fuel Consumption Worksheet for The Curious

pegaxs on 11/01/2020 - 18:25
Last edited 11/01/2020 - 23:27

I'm back at it again because of a few threads/comments I have read on here recently talking about fuel consumption with totally unrealistic values or wild claims. Thought It might be nice to put all this data to some use and if you like, you can have a play with it.

I have put together an Excel spreadsheet for you to put in some data and get it to spit out some results. It's a multi part sheet and coveres four different sections on fuel consumption.

Get your Fuel Consumption Worksheet here.

Whats in the sheet?

Part 1: Current Fuel Consumption.

A calculator to check your current fuel usage. Just enter the current price, how much you filled up and what your trip meter said fr the last tank full. (It cant predict what your "future" consumption will be, just give you an idea of the last tank full got. Should also work for partial fill up, providing you reset the trip meter each time you fill the vehicle)

Part 2: E10 Comparison. (This one is going to trigger some people.)

An E10 comparison tool. This I added for some fun. Just add the current price of E10 into part 2 (after you have filled out part 1) and it will give you an idea of how much more E10 you would need to go the same distance, how much it cost and how much it would cost to go the same distance. It will also tell you if you are/were better off filling up on E10 based on your last fill up.

InB4; All the anti-E10 crowd get all butthurt and make stupid, unfounded claims of 50% less km/tank. I have worked on the energy density of E10 to be about 95% of that of regular fuel. This is an average of best case to worst case. There is no way E10 gets 50% less per tank, so I'm not going to change the E10 energy density…

NB: I have not made a 91 v's 98, because 91 and 98 have the same energy density. So it is pointless to compare. Any variance that comes between using 91 and 98 while you are driving has more to do with the conditions than the fuel. So no, I wont be making a 91RON vs 98RON, because it is pointless. And if you think they are different, you need to do a little bit more reading on what RON is and what it does.

Part 3: Should You travel to buy cheaper fuel?

Ever looked at the fuel app or heard someone talking about the cost of fuel being cheap in another town/suburb and wondered if it would be worth the drive over there? Well, now you can pop the figures into this sheet and it will tell you if it's worth the drive over there to fuel up.

(I'm still working on a way to make the math work a little better on this one, so any ideas, let me know if you can think of a better way to work out the difference)

Part 4: Long Term Fuel Consumption Tracking.

A fuel tracking sheet. It will keep an average of your fill ups and distance travelled and how much fuel you have burned, how much money you have spent and let you know what your cars average fuel consumption is like over a longer time frame.

If you have any ideas on other things you would like to know or compare in relation to fuel, let me know and I'll see what I can add.

Possible additions:
Price per hour over an average speed.
Comparing two vehicles at the same time.
Graphs for the long term data

As always, feel free to let me know if something looks weird, doesn't make sense or is throwing errors and I will patch it.

And for anyone looking for an Electric V's Petrol comparison, I still have my other worksheet available.

Automotive Fuel

Comments

  • SBOB on 11/01/2020 - 19:18

    because 91 and 98 have the same energy density. So it is pointless to compare. Any variance that comes between using 91 and 98 while you are driving

    Why would you say something so controversial, yet so brave?
    https://i.imgflip.com/29lhex.jpg
    ;)

  • elgrande on 11/01/2020 - 19:27
    +2

    Nice one!

  • chrisie on 11/01/2020 - 20:04
    +1

    Thanks Pegaxs I'll give it a go.

  • spackbace on 11/01/2020 - 20:21
    +1

    Thanks J 😉

  • cloudy on 11/01/2020 - 22:37
    +1

    Ah, what a star!

    The only thing I have to say about being a ozb’er about petrol is timing the cycle.

    Understand the cycle and using it as best to your advantage.

    Ie, right now in Melbourne, the cycle has changed, so you should have filled up approx a week ago, around the low (1.30ish mark).

    Last as long as you can and on top up small amounts until the low of the next cycle, which is approximately 4weeks currently (subject to change, I’ve tracked petrol prices for 2 years, the cycle used to be longer.

    For those who fill up weekly, and can’t time cycles like me, use independents, they don’t live by cycles as much, and generally have more stable pricing. IE I see a servo nearby always 1.45, great to use during the cycle high, but bad to use during the cycle lows.

    • pegaxs on 11/01/2020 - 23:25

      I see a servo nearby

      I think that's why I wanted to make the "Should I Drive to Buy" section. It can give you a good idea if you go to a few different places, if it's worth going well out of your way to buy the fuel. (I did a mock entry for testing today and it said I would saved $0.02. Worksheet said "Good to buy!" So I may put a tollerance in there if people dont want to drive 40km out of their way to save 2 cents on their fuel load.)

      I guess with the long term tracking sheet, you could track what the cycling is like and make sure it's always around par for the fill up. But It will give you an average once you get a few entries made.

      I'm thinking I might make it make some graphs for data analysis, But I might also add a "car comparison" sheet as well, so people can compare other cars they may own in the family. Hell, compare the lawn mower to the space shuttle if they want too.

      • RockyRaccoon on 12/01/2020 - 06:46

        Ok fancy pants 😀 another great addition would be to include, coupon value, like woolies and Coles or Nrma, Toyota App.

        Then if paying with discounted gift card, what that % savings reduces price. Eg 5% on woolies gift card.

        👍🏻

        • pegaxs on 12/01/2020 - 09:27
          +1

          Or you could just put the adjusted price/litre in the box. :P

          I did play with the idea of being able to add discounts, but the problem comes when some offfer a flat cents/litre off, like Woolworths, and some were %off, like gift cards.

          Then there is the problem of stacking these ie: 4cents off per litre and then paying with a gift card that was 5% off. It’s easier for the user to just input the adjusted price.

          Maybe I can add a calculator that allows you to put in your final cost and how many litres instead of per/litre price and it can track how much you have saved by using coupons and discounts?

          • RockyRaccoon on 12/01/2020 - 18:33

            @pegaxs: Sure, but isnt that what we use calculators for? Just an idea, but understand your reasoning. 😀

            Eg

            Say Cell B4 shows fuel price ($1.32)
            Cell C4 is coupon value (Like 4c)
            Cell D4 is giftcard discount value (like 5%)
            Cell E4 would have calculation = (B4−C4)−((B4−C4)×D4)
            answer $1.216

            • pegaxs on 12/01/2020 - 20:49

              @RockyRaccoon: Or if I wanted more data with less input, I could put;

              B4 = Total cost shown on docket
              C4 = Litres shown on docket
              D4 = Giftcard discount

              (B4/C4) would give me the coupon'd cost per litre
              (B4*(D4*100)) would give me the true total cost after giftcard discount
              ((B4/C4)*(D4*100)) Would give me the true price / litre

              With yours above, I would also need to know the final amount OR how many litres was put in to get a final cost, adding another step to input. (ie: A4 = how many litres purchased.)

            • cloudy on 12/01/2020 - 22:14

              @RockyRaccoon:

              Sure, but isnt that what we use calculators for?

              My fear for our young is this line…simple calcs are much better done in head if for nothing else to keep our brain cells ticking.

              Minus 4c off a price tag should be piss easy, taking 5% off a price tag should sometimes be piss easy and sometimes just a rudimentary challenge to ensure we still have functioning minds.

              • pegaxs on 13/01/2020 - 00:16
                +1

                @cloudy: I’m surprised at just how hard finding how much 5% is for some people…

                5% is half of 10%.

                10% is moving the decimal place once to the left. (123.4 into 12.34)

                5% is just then half of that. (12.34 / 2 = 6.17)

                It’s the getting that off the original price to give you the discounted price that can be the drain cruncher when doing it all in your head…

                123.4 - 6.17… meh.

                Just easier to multiply it by 0.95 :D

                • RockyRaccoon on 13/01/2020 - 04:29

                  @pegaxs: All ok, when gift card discount is 5% but for some it can be 4%. Likewise discounts vary depending on source, like flybuys can offer bonus 10c 8c 6c or 4c on top. Or Nrma with different cents off for premium fuel.

                  Also your comments above seems miss your plan to check before going to buy. Getting the price off the docket helps to establish the costs of what you paid, which is very informative. But in deciding whether a fuel run to a distant station is viable (assuming that’s the only reason for the run) can only be made based on the costs per litre expected times the estimated fuel required.

                  Unless I have misunderstood things.

                  But it was only a suggestion, it’s your calculator and well done.

                  • pegaxs on 13/01/2020 - 09:37

                    @RockyRaccoon: What you are getting at is a whole different calculator. Like a cost comparison/savings calculator?

  • Zachary on 10/03/2021 - 00:56

    I guess no updates…

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