"Well I suppose everyone has their mountain to climb, and mine was going to Lick Observatory on Mt Hamilton. So I decided to go for a Sunday (well actually Saturday) drive just for the fun of it. It's a little bit of "me too", but here is my experience:
-- Left home (Sunnyvale) with a full charge, 126mi range, ~80ft elevation
-- First leg across the valley, drop to sea level, then up to ~70ft at the base of the east bay hills
19.6 miles, 10 bars left, 103 showing on range, 5.8mi/kWh, level
-- Sencond leg was up Quito road to the first ridge - ~2010 ft elevation
4.6 miles, 8 bars left, 38 showing on range, 1.3 mi/kWh, average grade ~8%
-- Third leg was down into a valley between the ridge and Mt. Hamilton - ~1600 ft elevation
1.2 miles, 8 bars left, 48 showing on range, 50.8 mi/kWh, average grade ~6%
-- Forth leg was up to Lick Observatory, Mt. Hamilton - 4196 ft elevation
11.2 miles, 5 bars left, 17 showing on range, 2.2 mi/kWh, average grade ~4.5%
-- Fifth leg was back the way I came to the valley, - ~1600 ft elevation
11.2 miles, 6 bars left, 67 showing on range, 98.9 mi/kWh, average grade ~4.5%
-- For the sixth leg, I decided not to go back up to the ridge, but go around it contining down hill until I reached Santa Clara valley floor - ~175 ft elevation
8.4 miles, 6 bars left, 77 showing on range, 99.9 mi/kWh, average grade ~3%
-- Seventh leg was back home accross the valley - ~ 80ft but drops to zero and back up
16.7 miles, 4 bars left, 43 showing on range, 6.0 mi/kWh, level
So, total trip was 72.9 miles using 8 bars, ~4600ft vertical climb, ~4.5mi/kWh. (I took all surface roads, no highway.)
There is one thing I was particularly impressed with. While it is not a BMW 335i convertable (my other car), it handled the mountain roads wonderfully. While I was not driving agressively, on the way down I was trying to avoid using the brakes so ended up taking some of the hairpin turns pretty agressively. It handled them smooth as silk. And as for the complaints about the steering, again while not a performance sports car, I thought the feel of the turns was clean and responsive.
It was a fun drive, good fresh air, good view, a little wild life, ... So the LEAF can be more than just an around town commute car."
Em: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3416