What will my fuel costs be to drive from Darwin to Perth?

We’re often asked how much to budget for fuel when travelling from Perth to Darwin in a motorhome or vice versa.

For budgeting purposes, it is fairly easy to calculate a rough estimate of your fuel costs for your camper adventure, but in most cases it will be just that – an estimate.  We share tips how to budget your Darwin to Perth fuel cost.

You’ll need the driving distance

• When you are driving from Darwin to Perth in your motorhome, you ‘could’ do as little as 4,100 km if you don’t detour at all from what the likes of Google maps may provide. In reality though, you will probably explore at least a couple of side roads.  It is not uncommon to do closer to 6,500 or 7,000 km by the time you explore Kakadu National Park near Darwin and deviate to areas like Broome and Derby, plus others.  If you’re planning a quicker motorhome trip, you maybe around the 5,000 km mark.

You’ll need the average fuel economy of your motorhome

• At Gallivanting Oz we can provide you with the approx. fuel economy for all our motorhomes, however this can vary a little depending on how you drive, the road conditions and weather conditions. Punching into a head wind for a few days will affect fuel economy, for example.
• As a guide, the average fuel economy for these popular motorhomes are:-
  • most of our two berth with toilet and shower (7m van style) run at around 10 – 12 L per 100 km
  • the larger 4 – 6 berth motorhomes are generally running around the 14 – 16 per 100 km

Average diesel price

• most of the motorhomes we hire to travel the iconic route from Darwin to Perth run on diesel. The smaller HiTop campers (no toilet/shower) tend to run on unleaded fuel.
• The average price for diesel per litre, at time of writing is fluctuating in cost. At the current time, the cost per litre for diesel in cities in Australia, is around the AU$1.60 – $1.65 mark; it wasn’t very long ago at all, it was around AU$1.50 per litre.  The cost to purchase diesel in more remote areas is higher due to the cost to transport etc.  This can vary, and again because the pricing is fluctuating, is just an indication.  It is not uncommon in more remote areas to see the cost around AU$1.80 per litre, and occasionally around AU$2.00.  Depending where you fill up of course will affect the total cost for your holiday.
• You could budget approx. AU$1.85 per litre currently on average for this route which would give you a pretty good ‘approx’ budget on fuel cost for motorhome travel from Perth to Darwin

Approx fuel cost Darwin to Perth

• Based on the above averages, the fuel cost for travelling in a two-berth toilet and shower style motorhome, could vary on average from around AU$1,000 – AU$1,450 approx, depending on the distance travelled.
• Based on the above averages, the fuel cost for travelling in a four/six berth toilet and shower style motorhome, could vary on average from around AU$1,350 – AU$1,950 approx, depending on the distance travelled.

Hopefully this assists you with an average price guide in calculating the fuel costs from Darwin to Perth.  Should fuel pricing generally continue to increase across Australia, this will affect your budget.

If you are planning your trip along this route and would like to find out more places you could visit, check out our Travel Route page for Darwin to Perth here . If you are looking for vehicle options, check out our range here and get in touch when you are ready to find out more details.