Just got off the phone with a Zero dealer.
Long story short, my job will have me driving to really far locations sometimes, (ex. 85 miles ONE way).
So range is pretty crucial to me.I was trying to communicate this to him, but he kept insisting to buy the 2016 model. I also told him I'm considering a Ninja 300, and he pretty much tried to guilt me for it, with a "Really?" Ugh dealers can be so damn rude and annoying. 
Well anyways, he told me that the 2017 specs should be public on Nov 15, to confirm whoever mentioned a similar date to that in this forum.
Also he said that the 2017 range will pretty much be the same as the 2016, but I just think he's saying all this sh*t to get me to buy the 2016. *rolls eyes*.
I'm just hoping the 2017 improves by at least 10 more miles to the charge, and it would be worth it, for my case at least.
I won't try to interpret your interaction with the dealer, but the 2016 model will handle 85 miles one way at highway speeds, particularly with a generously sized windscreen, and older models will make compromises to do the same because the battery capacity difference is that real (13 vs 12.5 and then 11.4 pretty much is a very real capacity rating). If the 2017 has the same cells as the 2016, there's no reason for you to prefer it on range factors, and you may get a discount on a demo model.
I commute 85 miles round trip and charge at work on a regular power outlet (only 4 hours needed), but I do have access to J plugs. The 2016 model (13kWh pack) will require nearly 10 hours to recharge from empty, and I'm going to assume that that's not fast enough for you; it shouldn't be. You need to think about some kind of extra charger, even if it's one of Zero's light but low capacity Quick Chargers, or an Elcon 2500 from Hollywood Electrics, or a Charge Tank.
I will say that your commute will be less stressful and you'll start saving money on gas and maintenance, mainly the chain and oil changes. Think about how long you'll be making this commute and add up the maintenance costs and time associated, and that's where you start seeing that the $16k price pays off. 60-70k miles later, you won't have added up maintenance costs aside from brake pad and tired changes every ~10k miles.
One thing is for sure: capacity won't increase more than 10% per year, and a capacity increase does not improve your charge rate at all; 85 miles takes out the same amount of power from differently sized batteries, and the onboard charger (or third party charger) will recover that power at the same rate.
