MPG (UK) to L/100 Km

1 mile per gallon (imperial) equals 282.4809363 liters per 100 kilometers.

How to convert miles per gallon (imperial) to liters per 100 kilometers

Converting miles per gallon (imperial) to liters per 100 kilometers is not a simple multiplication, so use the formula below.

liters per 100 kilometers = 282.4809363 ÷ miles per gallon (imperial)

Example: 10 miles per gallon (imperial) = 28.24809363 liters per 100 kilometers.

Miles per gallon rises as a car gets more efficient, while liters per 100 km falls. The conversion between them is a reciprocal (for US mpg: L/100 km = 235.215 ÷ mpg).

About these units

Mile Per Gallon (imperial) (mpg (UK))

Imperial (British)Current unit

Miles traveled on one imperial gallon (4.546 L). The UK still quotes fuel economy this way, so UK mpg figures are about 20% higher than US ones for the same car.

Britain's gallon is a child of the 1824 reform. It was originally defined as the volume of 10 pounds of distilled water at 62 degrees Fahrenheit, taken as 277.274 cubic inches; an 1889 Order in Council changed the figure to 277.463 cubic inches, and in 1976 the UK adopted the metric definition of exactly 4.54609 litres, after Canada had done so. The gallon used in the United States comes from a different, older wine measure, so the two differ by about 20 percent.

One imperial gallon is about 1.2 US gallons, which means that a car rated at 40 mpg in the UK delivers only about 33 mpg on the US scale. Miles per imperial gallon is still the UK's main fuel-economy unit even though petrol is sold by the litre and selling goods by the imperial gallon is no longer legal in Britain. Some Caribbean territories, such as the Cayman Islands and Grenada, still sell petrol by the imperial gallon, while the UAE, Guyana and Myanmar switched to litres in 2010, 2013 and 2014. When a figure says only mpg, check which gallon is meant.

1 mile per gallon (imperial) = 0.3540061899 kilometers per liter (approximately).

Sources: Wikipedia: Imperial gallon; Wikipedia: Fuel economy in automobiles

Liter Per 100 Kilometers (L/100 km)

Metric (SI)Current unit

Fuel used to travel 100 kilometers. The standard fuel-economy unit in Europe, Canada, Australia and China; lower is better.

Where miles per gallon asks how far you go, litres per 100 km asks how much you burn. Consumption is the reciprocal of economy, so it behaves linearly: if two cars each drive 100 km, the one that uses 8 litres instead of 10 saves exactly 2 litres, whatever the starting point. The sources I found do not name an inventor or date for the unit, but it is the standard in much of Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and China.

Lower is better, which surprises people used to mpg. The relationship between the two scales is a reciprocal: for US mpg, L/100 km equals 235.215 divided by mpg. The Smart Fortwo cdi at about 3.4 L/100 km works out to roughly 69 mpg (US), while a full-size SUV in the US averages around 16 mpg on the highway, which is about 14.7 L/100 km. The US EPA introduced gallons per 100 miles, which carries the same logic, to counter the MPG illusion and make comparisons fairer.

1 liter per 100 kilometers = 100 kilometers per liter (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Fuel economy in automobiles; fueleconomy.gov: Learn more about the gasoline label

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