Estimate Gas Cost, Find Directions and Save Money With Cost2Drive
Cost2Drive ($1.99) by C2G, LLC is a handy app for anyone who is planning a road trip. Like the name suggests, the app calculates how much the gas will cost to drive a certain distance.
The app uses a simple two-step process to determine gas cost. First users enter the year, make, and model of their car and Cost2Drive will find the relevant gas mileage information. Then users input their starting point and end destination. The app will then estimate the cost of gas one-way, as well as the distance (in miles) and the time it will take to drive. Once the information is calculated, it is displayed with a trip details button that takes users to the Cost2Drive website with more in-depth information about the trip.
The detailed trip webpage shows users the planned route used to estimate gas price. Cost2Drive does not provide their own directions, but there are links to the directions on MapQuest, Yahoo Maps and Google Maps on the page. One extremely useful feature on the detailed trip page is the gas stations feature. This highlights gas stations en-route that have the cheapest gas prices (based on your vehicle). These gas stations are spaced on the route so they are only shown approximately where you will need to stop based on your car’s tank size and estimated MPG. This helps users take advantage of these reduced prices and economize their trips as much as possible.
The process to determine cost and directions is very simple and speedy. It takes less than a minute to input all the information from scratch. Conveniently, Cost2Drive saves up to five car models in the app. These remain on the home screen and users can tap on one to advance to Step 2 and enter trip information. If you’re planning a trip to visit one of your contacts, you can select their contact address as the destination without having to enter it in manually. By default the starting point on the trip is your current location.
The only improvement I would like to see with Cost2Drive is the ability to change the default gas type. Since cost is estimated by gas type, cars that supposedly require premium gas show higher prices than those with the regular unleaded gas. Even though drivers may not choose to buy premium gas. This small feature would make Cost2Drive much more practical for everyone.
Overall, Cost2Drive is a useful app for drivers. It is interesting to see how much short distances cost to drive, and helpful to estimate long road trip costs. I highly recommend this app due to its straightforward design and practical application.
