Fuel is one of the few parts of car ownership in Singapore that scales almost directly with how you live. Drive more, queue more, detour more — you pay more. This page gives you a clean way to budget fuel in 60 seconds, plus realistic monthly ranges you can plug into your true monthly ownership cost.
Start here (fast path)
Fuel is a variable cost. If your fuel spend is high, your affordability buffer needs to be higher too. See also parking and ERP.
Comparing EV vs petrol for running costs? See EV vs Petrol Cost in Singapore.
If you just want a planning band first, most private drivers roughly fall into:
These are budgeting ranges, not promises. Your number is driven mainly by (1) monthly mileage, (2) fuel efficiency, and (3) pump prices.
You only need two steps.
Fuel cost per km = pump price per litre ÷ (km per litre)
Example: pump price $2.70/L and fuel efficiency 12 km/L → fuel cost ≈ $0.225 per km.
Monthly fuel = monthly distance (km) × fuel cost per km
Example: 1,200 km/month × $0.225/km ≈ $270/month.
Use this as a fast sanity check. If your actual driving pattern is different, treat this as a starting point and adjust mileage.
| Driver profile | Monthly distance | Efficiency (km/L) | Pump price | Estimated fuel / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light commuter (mostly off-peak) | 800 km | 13 km/L | $2.70/L | ~$166 |
| Typical commuter + weekends | 1,200 km | 12 km/L | $2.70/L | ~$270 |
| Heavy usage (family + frequent trips) | 1,800 km | 11 km/L | $2.70/L | ~$442 |
| Same as above, price spike scenario | 1,800 km | 11 km/L | $3.10/L | ~$508 |
People underestimate fuel because they budget based on “typical weeks” and ignore:
If you want a conservative budget that won’t surprise you, take your estimated number and add a 15–25% buffer.
Fuel is not the biggest line item (COE and depreciation dominate), but it is one of the most controllable. In cashflow terms, it often sits next to parking and ERP as the “monthly pain” category.
If your fuel band is consistently heavy usage, treat that as a signal to:
It varies massively by lifestyle. The fastest way to ground yourself is to check your last 2–3 fuel receipts or odometer logs and back-calculate. If you don’t have data, use 800 / 1,200 / 1,800 km as light / typical / heavy planning points.
Either works. This page uses km/L because many owners think in that direction. If you have L/100km, convert by: km/L = 100 ÷ (L/100km).