Multiple reasons went into our decision to switch from pulling a trailer to a Class C motorhome, then, yet again, to a smaller Class B van and Kim touches on many of these in the previous posts. One of my favourite motives was to reduce the amount we spent while traveling, whether it was for overnight stops or fuel economy. Back on our maiden voyage in 2018, we tracked what we spent on fuel in each province including what the price at the pump was. We can’t compare accommodation costs since we took a month heading out west in 2018 and only eight days to travel east this year. However, I thought it would be interesting to compare the fuel costs.
Vehicle: 2021.5 Pleasure-Way Plateau FL (2020 Mercedes Benz Sprinter 3500 XD chassis)
My first observation when I checked my initial post was seeing that diesel costs haven’t changed that much in three years. Similar to 2018, the most expensive stops were in BC and northern Ontario. You will notice that many of the fill ups were just top ups at best. We could have easily reduced the number of stops by about half, and we probably will do this on the return leg. I was just trying to fill whenever we got close to half a tank to ensure we made it through the areas where they warn you to check your fuel due to no stations for x number of kilometres. I think there were only two times, the entire drive, where we needed to be moderately watchful. Diesel in Canada is now readily available at most pumps.
British Columbia (July 26th, 2021)
Hope $41 @ 1.37
Salmon Arm $50 @ $1.29
Golden $44 @ $1.29
Subtotal: $135
Alberta
Hinton $63 @ 1.23
Vermillion $79 @ 1.22
Subtotal: $142
Saskatchewan
Saskatoon $57 @ 1.23
Regina $50 @ 1.22
Whitewood $31 @ 1.28
Subtotal: $138
Manitoba
St Francis $58 @ 1.30
Ontario
Kenora $35 @ $1.36
Dryden $38 @ $1.38
Thunderbay $57 @ 1.46
Marathon $51 @ $1.44
Wawa $35 @ $1.32
Sault Ste Marie $38 @ $1.34
Sudbury $67 @$1.31
Brighton $80 @$1.32
Subtotal: $401
Total cost of fuel driving from Vancouver Island to Ottawa was $874. Total distance travelling was 5555 kilometres and the average fuel economy was 131/100 kilometres or 18 miles/gallon.
Update: We ended up driving 12,250 kilometres for the entire trip and maintained the 13l per 100 kilometres or 18 miles a gallon (US) which I was happy about. We used one container of Diesel Exhaust fluid (DEF) on the way there and one container on the way back for a total cost of $40.
In comparison, in 2018 with the trailer and 5500 kilometres driven, we spent $1346 getting an average of 17.6l /100 kilometres or close to 14 miles to a gallon (US)