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Fuel savings

Work out your own fuel saving

Put in your own numbers, or start from one of the situations. The result is an estimate of what tracking could save in fuel, and it says how it was worked out.

See the four situations

How this is worked out

  1. Fuel a month is the number of vehicles times the distance each drives, divided by kilometres per litre, times the pump price.
  2. The pump price is EPRA's maximum price in Nairobi, 15 October to 14 November 2026, VAT included. Prices outside Nairobi differ a little, so change it if yours does.
  3. The saving is the fuel a month times the percentage you give. 5% is our careful default, an estimate; two US studies of fleets that acted on the data found 2% to 9%. It is never a promise.
  4. The Fleetrift cost is the plan price for each vehicle every month, plus any new hardware spread over 3 years. Payback is the hardware bought, divided by the saving a month less the plan price a month.
  5. Only fuel is counted. Theft, long stops, tyres and crashes are extra and are not counted.
Where these numbers come from

Sources

Every number, and how sure we are

Measured means read from a source. Worked out means we calculated it from sources. Assumed means it is our own estimate.

  • Fuel saved by tracking

    5 % of fuel

    Assumed, medium confidence. The Standard, US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, with KLS Engineering, University of California, Riverside, for the US Department of Energy

    A careful default, our estimate. It sits below the low end of two US studies (5.4% to 9.3%, and 2% to 9% across fleets) and well below the 17% gap one Kenyan fleet found. The studies are about trucks; the same 5% is used for cars and bikes.

  • Super petrol pump price, Nairobi

    226.96 KES a litre

    Measured, high confidence. Pulse Kenya, reporting the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority

    Maximum retail price, 15 October to 14 November 2026, VAT included. Prices outside Nairobi differ a little.

  • Diesel pump price, Nairobi

    227.76 KES a litre

    Measured, high confidence. Pulse Kenya, reporting the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority

    Maximum retail price, 15 October to 14 November 2026, VAT included. Prices outside Nairobi differ a little.

  • Distance a passenger car drives

    22,671 km a year

    Measured, medium confidence. GIZ

    Average of all passenger cars in Kenya, from odometer readings at fuel stations (plus or minus 2,496 km at 95% confidence). A taxi drives more, so a taxi's saving is likely larger.

  • Fuel use of a passenger car

    16.49 km per litre

    Worked out from a source, medium confidence. GIZ

    Worked out by the study from what drivers said they spent and drove in a month (plus or minus 1.9). Drivers' own answers, not metered fuel.

  • Distance a motorcycle drives

    17,807 km a year

    Measured, medium confidence. GIZ

    Average of all motorcycles in Kenya, not only boda bodas (plus or minus 3,519 km). A boda boda that carries passengers all day likely drives more.

  • Fuel use of a motorcycle

    26.51 km per litre

    Worked out from a source, medium confidence. GIZ

    Worked out by the study from drivers' answers (plus or minus 0.86).

  • Distance a light commercial vehicle drives

    30,811 km a year

    Measured, medium confidence. GIZ

    Average of all light commercial vehicles in Kenya, which is vans and pick-ups (plus or minus 3,138 km).

  • Fuel use of a light commercial vehicle

    15.2 km per litre

    Worked out from a source, low confidence. GIZ

    Worked out by the study from drivers' answers. The range is wide (plus or minus 4.75), so confidence is Low.

  • Vans run on diesel

    Yes

    Assumed, low confidence. Our own estimate

    Our assumption: the study does not split light commercial vehicles by fuel. Choose petrol in the calculator if yours run on petrol.

  • Vehicles in a small fleet

    10 vehicles

    Assumed, low confidence. Our own estimate

    An illustration, our assumption. The cost and the saving grow in step with the number of vehicles.

  • Fuel use of a loaded heavy truck

    2.8 km per litre

    Assumed, low confidence. Our own estimate

    Our estimate. The same study reports 12.73 km per litre for heavy trucks, from drivers' answers; we judge that too high for a loaded long-haul truck, so we do not use it.

  • Mombasa to Nairobi by road

    480 km

    Worked out from a source, medium confidence. Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority

    The report's Mombasa to Malaba (933 km) less its Nairobi to Malaba (452 km) is 481 km, rounded to 480. Both run through Nairobi.

  • Mombasa to Kampala by road

    1,170 km

    Worked out from a source, medium confidence. Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority

    The report's Mombasa to Malaba (933 km) plus its Malaba to Kampala (236 km) is 1,169 km, rounded to 1,170.

  • Return trips a month, Mombasa to Nairobi

    5 return trips

    Assumed, low confidence. Our own estimate

    Our assumption: a day each way, with loading and waiting. 5 return trips is 57,600 km a year, a little under the 63,205 km the survey found for heavy trucks.

  • Return trips a month, Mombasa to Kampala

    2 return trips

    Assumed, low confidence. Our own estimate

    Our assumption: the report's median is 114 hours one way from Mombasa to Kampala, stops included (70 to Malaba and 44 on), so a return trip takes about two weeks. 2 return trips is 56,160 km a year, a little under the survey's 63,205 km for heavy trucks.

  • Distance a heavy truck drives

    63,205 km a year

    Measured, medium confidence. GIZ

    Average of all heavy goods vehicles in Kenya (plus or minus 6,204 km). Used here only to check the return trips a month, not as an input.

  • Fuel claimed above what a trip needs

    17 % (420 against 360 litres)

    Measured, low confidence. The Standard

    One 20-truck fleet's manager, as quoted by a newspaper. One fleet, one claim. Not used as an input: it shows that 5% is careful.

  • Saved a trip by fuel sensors

    6,000 KES a Nairobi trip (5,000 to 7,000)

    Measured, low confidence. The Standard

    The same fleet manager's range, middle shown. Not used as an input.

  • Fuel's share of fleet costs

    30 % at most

    Measured, low confidence. Business Daily

    The article says fuel accounts for as much as 30% of management costs. Context only; not used as an input.