A Japanese car manual shows 12 km/L. How do I compare that to a European car rated 8 L/100km?

100 ÷ 12 = 8.33 L/100km. The Japanese car (8.33 L/100km) is slightly less efficient than the European car (8 L/100km). Very close — within 4% of each other.

My car's onboard computer switched to km/L after a reset. It's showing 13. Is that good?

13 km/L = 100 ÷ 13 = 7.69 L/100km, which is roughly average for a mid-size petrol car in mixed driving. A European equivalent would consider anything under 7 L/100km efficient. Your reading is normal.

Is there a quick mental shortcut for this conversion?

Remember: km/L × L/100km always equals 100. So if you know one, divide 100 by it to get the other. Example: 8 km/L → 100 ÷ 8 = 12.5 L/100km. Handy values to memorise: 10 km/L = 10 L/100km, 20 km/L = 5 L/100km, 5 km/L = 20 L/100km.

My Korean car is rated 14.5 km/L. If petrol costs €1.60/L, what's my fuel cost per 100 km?

14.5 km/L = 100 ÷ 14.5 = 6.9 L/100km. Cost per 100 km = 6.9 × €1.60 = €11.04. At that rate, a 500 km motorway trip costs about €55 in fuel.

km/L to L/100km Converter

Enter a value to instantly convert between fuel economy units.

From

Precision4 dp

1 Km per Liter = 100 Liters per 100km

Key Formulas

MPG (US) → Liters per 100km

L/100km = mpg × 235.215

Liters per 100km → MPG (US)

mpg = L/100km × 235.215

Km per Liter → MPG (US)

mpg = km/L × 2.35215

MPG (US) → Km per Liter

km/L = mpg × 0.425144

Formula

L/100km = 100 ÷ km/L

Comparing a Japanese domestic car against a European import means translating between two opposite efficiency scales. Japan, South Korea, India, and parts of Southeast Asia rate vehicles in kilometers per liter — higher is better. Europe and Australia use liters per 100 km — lower is better. The two scales are mathematical inverses, so you simply divide 100 by the km/L figure to cross the boundary. A Toyota Prius rated 26 km/L in Japan equals 3.85 L/100km — a figure that would top any European fuel economy chart.

Source: US EPA Fuel Economy Methodology

Last reviewed: 2026-06-11 · see our methodology

Frequently Asked Questions

Real-World Examples

A typical Japanese market compact car rated 15 km/L. The European equivalent of 6.67 L/100km is solidly average for a petrol hatchback.

15 km/L = 6.67 L/100km

A mid-size Japanese sedan at 10 km/L. Both numbers happen to equal 10, making this the easiest mental reference point between the two scales.

10 km/L = 10 L/100km

A Honda Fit hybrid rated 20 km/L on the JC08 test cycle. At 5 L/100km, this competes with the best petrol cars on European WLTP testing.

20 km/L = 5 L/100km

A large Japanese SUV or pickup rated 7 km/L. At 14.3 L/100km, this is heavy consumption by European standards — comparable to a V8 Land Cruiser.

7 km/L = 14.29 L/100km

mpg to l per 100km l per 100km to mpg kml to mpg mpg to kml

km/L to L/100km Converter

Key Formulas

Formula

Frequently Asked Questions

Real-World Examples

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