Petrol cost for a self-drive road trip in Pakistan: a simple calculation

Any petrol cost calculator Pakistan drivers use comes down to one line of arithmetic: distance in km ÷ your car's km per litre × today's price per litre. On 25 September 2026 the notified petrol price was Rs389.28 a litre, according to the Petroleum Division announcement reported by Business Recorder. So a family sedan that manages 12 km per litre costs you roughly Rs32 in fuel for every kilometre, before tolls.

That is the easy part. The part most online calculators skip is that the same car will not give you the same average in Lahore traffic, on the M-2 through the Salt Range, and on a 40-degree afternoon outside Karachi with the AC on full. Below you will find the formula, a way to adjust it for Pakistani conditions, two worked trips (Lahore to Islamabad, Karachi to Hyderabad), and a checklist for adding motorway tolls so the number you plan with is the number you actually spend.

The formula, and the one figure you must get right

Write it down like this:

1. Litres needed = kilometres ÷ km per litre
2. Fuel cost = litres needed × price per litre
3. Trip running cost = fuel cost + tolls + a small buffer

The price is easy to check and the distance is easy to measure. The weak link is almost always the middle figure: your car's fuel average in km per litre. In Pakistan a car's "average" means km per litre; if you think in miles per gallon, convert first. If your figure is in litres per 100 km instead, divide 100 by it to get km per litre.

A quick way to find your fuel cost per km in Pakistan: divide the price per litre by your km per litre. At Rs389.28 a litre:

• 8 km per litre works out at about Rs48.7 per km
• 12 km per litre works out at about Rs32.4 per km
• 15 km per litre works out at about Rs26.0 per km

Keep that per-km figure on your phone to price a detour or a side trip to a relative's village in your head.

Where to check the petrol price in Pakistan today

Each revision is notified by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and announced by the federal Petroleum Division. The primary place to look is OGRA's own notified petroleum prices page, which keeps every notification in date order. OGRA's site also carries a district and pump-wise oil prices section, useful if you want to see what pumps along your route are charging rather than relying on the headline figure alone.

Two points worth knowing before you plan around a number:

• Prices move often. On 7 March 2026 Business Recorder reported a Rs55 per litre rise that took petrol to Rs321.17, and quoted the government saying it would review prices on a weekly basis. By late September 2026 the notified price stood at Rs389.28, more than Rs68 higher again.
• Use the price on the day you fill up, not the day you plan. If you are booking a car weeks ahead from Manchester or Dubai, run the numbers at today's price, then add a margin for movement. Check again the evening before you set off.

Every figure here uses Rs389.28, the price in force when we wrote it. Swap in the current number and the method still holds.

Car fuel average in km per litre: what to plan with

This is where most estimates go wrong. The figure on a brochure, or the one a rental desk quotes, is usually a best case. Your real average depends on engine size, load, speed, heat and traffic.

The honest answer is to use your actual car's figure. Here is how to get it:

• Ask the rental company what the car has been averaging on recent trips, not what the brochure claims.
• Check the trip computer if the car has one. Reset it at the start and read it after the first 50 km of mixed driving.
• Do a tank-to-tank check on longer trips: fill up, reset the trip meter, drive, fill up again, then divide the kilometres driven by the litres the second fill took.

If you have no figure at all, the table below gives example planning figures by type of car. These are editorial planning assumptions for estimating a budget, not manufacturer ratings, and your car may do better or worse.

If you get a real figure later, replace the example straight away. A two km per litre difference on a 400 km trip is several thousand rupees.

AC, hills, traffic and luggage: adjusting the average

A flat calculator treats every kilometre the same. Pakistani roads do not. These are the adjustments that make the biggest difference, and how to allow for each.

Air conditioning in the heat

From May to September, much of Punjab and Sindh is hot enough that nobody travelling with parents or small children will drive without the AC. The US Department of Energy's fuel economy guidance on hot weather says that under very hot conditions, AC use can cut a conventional car's fuel economy by more than 25%, especially on short trips. Its practical advice suits Pakistani summers well: air the car out with the windows open for a minute before switching the AC on, park in shade where you can, and do not sit idling with the AC running while everyone finishes loading.

Allow for it: add 10% to the fuel figure on a summer motorway run, and more for short city hops in peak heat.

Hills and the Salt Range

Heading north, the M-2 enters the Salt Range at Kallar Kahar, and that climb is the one genuinely hilly stretch of a Lahore to Islamabad drive. A laden sedan climbing it uses noticeably more fuel than it does on the flat Punjab plain around Pindi Bhattian and Sukheki. On the way back you recover some of it downhill, so over a return trip the effect partly evens out.

For trips into the northern hills, plan with the city figure from the table, not the motorway one.

City traffic at each end

Leaving Lahore towards the motorway at Thokar Niaz Baig, or crawling out of Karachi towards the M-9, means stop-start driving at the city average. The same guidance notes that aggressive driving with hard acceleration and braking can lower mileage by roughly 10% to 40% in stop-and-go traffic, and that idling burns fuel with no distance to show for it.

Allow for it: split your trip into a motorway leg and city legs, and price each separately. The worked examples below do exactly this.

Speed, roof racks and weight

The M-9, for example, has a 120 km/h limit for light vehicles; always follow the posted limit on the road you are on. Sitting at the top of that range costs more fuel than cruising a little slower, because fuel economy usually drops rapidly above about 80 km/h (50 mph), according to the same source. Two other common family habits add cost:

• A loaded roof carrier. The same guidance says a large, blunt roof box can reduce fuel economy by 6% to 17% on the highway. For a wedding trip with a roof full of suitcases and gift boxes, assume the higher end.
• A full car. Five adults plus luggage is not the same as a driver alone. Use the lower end of your car's range.

A simple adjustment rule

If you do not want to price every factor, use this rule of thumb for planning:

These percentages are planning margins, not measurements.

Worked example: fuel cost Lahore to Islamabad by car

This is an example for a family sedan in summer, using the planning figures above. Replace any number you know better.

The route. The M-2 Lahore–Islamabad Motorway is 375 km long. It starts west of Lahore at the Thokar Niaz Baig junction with the N-5 and ends just west of Rawalpindi, where it meets the Islamabad Link Road and the M-1. Your real door-to-door distance depends on where you start in Lahore and where you are staying in Islamabad or Rawalpindi, so this example assumes 25 km of city driving on top of the motorway.

Step 1: litres for each leg

• Motorway: 375 km ÷ 12 km/l = 31.25 litres
• City legs at both ends: 25 km ÷ 8 km/l = 3.13 litres
• Total: about 34.4 litres

Step 2: fuel cost at Rs389.28 a litre

• 34.4 litres × Rs389.28 = about Rs13,380

Step 3: summer AC margin of 10%

• Rs13,380 + Rs1,340 = about Rs14,720

Step 4: add the motorway toll

The M-2 is run under a concession agreement between the National Highway Authority and an FWO subsidiary, and its toll is escalated on a schedule. NHA's M-2 toll notice sets the rate for cars, jeeps and taxis at Rs3.98 per km, or Rs1,430 for the full length, from 5 July 2026 to 23 April 2027. Because the rate is set per kilometre, a shorter hop between interchanges should cost proportionately less; the plaza receipt is the final word.

• Rs14,720 + Rs1,430 = about Rs16,150 one way
• Return trip: about Rs32,300

For comparison, the same trip in the example hatchback (15 km/l on the motorway, 11 in the city) comes to about Rs13,110 one way with the AC margin and toll, and the example seven-seater (9 and 6) to about Rs21,060. The gap between the smallest and largest car is bigger than the toll itself, which is why the fuel average matters more than anything else you put into the calculator.

Service areas. The main fuel stops on the M-2 are its service areas, which sit on both sides of the road at Sukheki, Sial, Bhera, Kallar Kahar and Chakri, typically 60 to 80 km apart. Fill up in the city before you join, and treat Bhera or Kallar Kahar as your mid-way top-up rather than waiting for the warning light.

Worked example: Karachi to Hyderabad

Again, this is an example, for the same family sedan in summer.

The route. The M-9 Karachi–Hyderabad Motorway is a six-lane road 136 km long. It begins north of Karachi near the junction with the Karachi Northern Bypass and ends at an interchange at Kotri, outside Hyderabad, where it merges with the N-5. It is an upgrade of the old Super Highway and is operated by the Frontier Works Organization on a build-operate-transfer basis. Karachi's traffic makes the city leg the expensive part, so this example assumes 24 km of city driving.

Step 1: litres for each leg

• Motorway: 136 km ÷ 12 km/l = 11.33 litres
• City legs: 24 km ÷ 8 km/l = 3 litres
• Total: about 14.3 litres

Step 2: fuel cost at Rs389.28 a litre

• 14.3 litres × Rs389.28 = about Rs5,580

Step 3: summer AC margin of 10%

• Rs5,580 + Rs560 = about Rs6,140 in fuel one way

Step 4: the toll. The M-9 is not on NHA's July 2026 motorway toll schedule, because it runs under FWO's own concession. Check the current car rate at the toll plaza or with your rental company, and add it to your fuel figure.

A safety note for anyone continuing north. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office advises against all but essential travel to all areas of Sindh Province north of and including the city of Nawabshah. Hyderabad itself sits south of that line, but if your family plans extend up the N-5 beyond it, read the advice first and check your travel insurance, which could be invalidated if you travel against FCDO advice.

Fuel plus tolls: the full trip running cost

Fuel is the biggest line, but it is not the only one. A realistic running-cost sheet for a self-drive road trip has five rows.

NHA's revised toll rates notification, effective from 10 July 2026, lists car tolls for the whole length of several other motorways too: Rs700 on the M-1 Islamabad–Peshawar, Rs1,000 on the M-3 Lahore–Abdul Hakeem, Rs1,350 on the M-4 Pindi Bhattian–Faisalabad–Multan, Rs1,500 on the M-5 Multan–Sukkur and Rs800 on the M-14 Hakla–D.I. Khan. Toll rates are revised from time to time, so check the current notice before you travel rather than relying on any article, this one included. Our sister platform iDrive, the network behind Pakistan Taxi, keeps a motorway tolls and drive times reference for the main routes.

The M-2 uses the M-Tag electronic tolling system, introduced there in December 2021. If you are hiring a car, ask whether it carries a working M-Tag, whether it has balance on it, and how toll charges are settled at the end of the hire.

If you are driving a rental car

A self-drive hire changes the sums in a few ways. Before you collect the keys, ask these questions and write the answers down:

1. What fuel level does the car leave at, and at what level should it come back? If it goes out full and must return full, your fuel budget is the whole trip. If it goes out with a quarter tank, the first fill is on you before you even leave the city.
2. What is the car's real average? Ask for the figure from recent hires, not the brochure one. Then compare it with the example planning table above.
3. Is there a daily kilometre limit? Ask whether the hire includes a set distance per day and what happens beyond it. A Lahore to Islamabad return is roughly 800 km once you add the city legs, so check this before you plan side trips to Murree or the Salt Range.
4. Who pays the tolls? Whether you pay cash, use the car's M-Tag or settle at the end, confirm it before you drive.
5. What fuel should it take? Confirm the grade the car should use and keep the receipts for every fill.

For more on how self-drive hire works through us, see our self-drive car hire page. If the sums start to look close, it is worth reading our comparison of self-drive versus hiring a car with a driver in Pakistan, because on some routes the gap narrows once you count fuel, tolls, parking and a day's rest.

A five-minute fuel budget checklist

Use this the night before you leave:

• Check the current petrol price on OGRA's notified prices page
• Write down your car's km per litre, split into motorway and city if you can
• Measure the door-to-door distance for each leg, not just the motorway length
• Add 10% in summer for AC, 20% if you also have a loaded roof carrier
• Look up the toll for each motorway you will use, both directions
• Note where the service areas are and plan your fuel stop before the warning light
• Check the UK FCDO travel advice for every area on your route
• Allow extra time and cash for protests, which the FCDO notes have previously led to road closures and transport disruption

When a car with a driver makes more sense

Driving yourself suits a couple on the M-2 in winter. It suits a wedding weekend less, when you would rather be at the mehndi than hunting for parking, or a hot-season trip with elderly parents.

If you would like someone else to handle the road, our city-to-city journeys cover the main intercity routes. It helps to know what a quote for that kind of trip should list, and our guide to what a city-to-city quote should include explains what to look for, including how fuel and tolls are shown. When you are ready, you can start planning a journey (planned link) and tell us the route, dates and passengers. We will come back to you on what is available; nothing is confirmed until you have agreed the details.