How much does it cost to drive from Charlottetown to Montreal?

When we picked up our Kia Soul rental last Thursday it was full of gas. We drove from Charlottetown to Montreal, drove around Montreal a bit, and drove back. Total driven from door-to-door was 2,441 km and the Soul reported that it used 8.1 litres/100 km of gasoline when I return it; actual gasoline purchased: 

  • Hartford, NB — 37 litres at $1.337 for $50.68
  • Deschambault, QC — 44 litres at $1.394 for $61.47
  • Brossard, QC — 11 litres at $1.359 for $16.24
  • Levis, Quebec - 35 litres at $1.394 for $49.51
  • Hartford, NB — 39 litres at $1.337 for $52.16
  • Charlottetown, PE — 38 litres at $1.281 for $49.38

So we used a total of 204 litres of gasoline which cost me $279.44. This comes out to a slightly higher 8.36 litres/100 km, or about 28 miles per gallon. Which is right around what the U.S. Department of Energy reports.

Our carbon footprint for this trip was either 0.38 tonnes  or 0.40 tonnes or 0.46 tonnes depending on who’s doing the calculation. This is 60-70% of our emissions if we had flown (0.65 tonnes).

Mileage

Comments

Josh Coles's picture
Josh Coles on May 2, 2012 - 19:23 Permalink

Very nice Peter! I’m curious, how many people were in the car? This post makes me want to round up 5 people, rent a car, and split the relatively low costs of travelling up to Montreal.

Also, although it doesn’t involve any additional carbon footprint, there’s always another ~$45 for that pesky bridge.

Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on May 3, 2012 - 13:50 Permalink

There were two of us in the car — the remainder left for cargo. In theory I could have offered the front seat to someone else on the way up, but one of the roles of the trip was father+son time, and if there had been another adult in the car for the ride up this would have been overshadowed.

boostventilator's picture
boostventilator on May 3, 2012 - 13:55 Permalink

I like to factor in the duration of time when compared with other options (bus, train and plane). Last time I drove to Montreal when some friends got seat sales, it seemed like I could have worked at McDonald’s for minimum wage to make up the difference in cost considering the time and accomodation cost. Of course, in your case the ability to bring back printing and Ikea cargo is an important factor.

Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on May 3, 2012 - 14:00 Permalink

Yes, there’s no doubt that the time factor is a killer when driving west from Atlantic Canada. The mitigating factor in my case was the cargo and getting to spend time with Oliver.

boostventilator's picture
boostventilator on May 3, 2012 - 14:23 Permalink

Exactly. The road trip aspect with family doesn’t also fit into a spreadsheet. I was bitter for missing an amazing seat sale to attend the Osheaga festival a few years ago and quality time (unless catching up on podcasts counts) really wasn’t in the picture.

Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on May 3, 2012 - 14:26 Permalink

Osheaga == Sigur Rós this year. I’m considering going.