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[WrightWells]

It's a typical newbie question but having done the sums a zero DSR 13 stacks up in cost over maintenance and fuel but only if it does the miles

Would a DSR 13 manage a 20 minute / 10 mile back lane ride followed by 50 mile highway ride on one charge. 
I have the ability to use a charge tank charger at work for the return journey.

From  what I've read and heard it would only manage the freeway leg of the journey,  is that true.

Thanks

[JaimeC]

It depends on how fast you're riding that highway leg.  Speed more than anything else will kill range.  I put my Zero into "Eco" mode on the highway to limit my top speed to 70 mph and to "Custom" mode (100 torque/100 regen) for surface roads.  Most I ever did on a single charge doing mostly highway (about 60%) was 92 miles.  I'm confident if I stayed completely off the highway I could've gotten over 100 miles on a charge.

My regular commute is 34 miles round trip, nearly all highway.  Combined with an average 20 mile lunch time ride I usually put the bike away with a little under 50% charge.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

I ride 43 miles each way (85 miles round trip) to work daily, mostly on the highway, and the DSR 13 handles it great. It does matter with a stock bike how fast you ride. I can charge fast at work, but I often show up with 55% SoC (so 1% per mile).

A stock bike should be able to do that at 55mph. A windscreen will give you a little bump there (60-65mph say).

I'm, uh, doing that at 75-80mph now because I've gone off the deep end with drag reduction and want to spend less time per day on the road.

If you charge at work (fast or slow), your commute will easily work and fit errands in.

[Low On Cash]

It's a typical newbie question but having done the sums a zero DSR 13 stacks up in cost over maintenance and fuel but only if it does the miles

Would a DSR 13 manage a 20 minute / 10 mile back lane ride followed by 50 mile highway ride on one charge. 
I have the ability to use a charge tank charger at work for the return journey.

From  what I've read and heard it would only manage the freeway leg of the journey,  is that true.

Thanks

The mileage is effected by temperature, as a rule a safe estimate is 1 mile per 1%.  I have a 17 DSR and now that's its warmed up a bit here in Ga - with my stock bike I'm averaging right around 110-120 miles per charge but I'm running mostly on back roads 40-50 mph. Sounds to me that a tank battery would be the safe route for you. Myself, I have $18K plus in my bike and I'm not spending any more cash on her, if you know what I mean. 

[Skidz]

I've done a real-life test and put a video here:
If you don't want to watch the whole exciting 60 minutes, here's the low-down: 4km at about 50km/h, then 80km at 120km/h, then 4km at 50km/h. For the metric impaired, that's 2,5 miles at  30mph, 50 miles at 75mph, and then 2,5 miles at 30 mph again. The SOC went from 100% all the way down to 0% on that trip, and on the highway leg I sometimes hit 130km/h (80mph) overtaking ppl.

[NEW2elec]

I prefer the term metric denier. LOL
Good real world stats video thanks.

[Doug S]

My commute is 50 miles round-trip, just about on the nose, of which probably 60% is at freeway speeds. I keep the speeds reasonable (I rarely get over 70 and almost never see 75), and although I'm a heavy guy, I get home with my SoC in the high 40s. When the weather warms up, I'll bet I get home with 50% charge left once in a while with my new battery pack (the pack on my 2014 SR was changed not too long ago, so I went from 11.4 kWh to 13.0 nominal).

[MostlyBonkers]

My commute is also 50 miles. Again with approx. 60% of the miles on fast roads. Mine's a 2014 DS with the 11.4 battery. I very rarely get home with less than 20% SoC. That's riding in a spirited fashion, although I seldom go over 85 mph. I usually stick to 70mph on the motorway. I can count on 65 miles of mixed riding on a charge in all weather down to 0C. I can easily get 70 miles from a charge with a little more care with the throttle. 80 miles of city riding should be easy, but I've never been able to test that. Cities aren't that big! ;-)

[gyrocyclist]

Would a DSR 13 manage a 20 minute / 10 mile back lane ride followed by 50 mile highway ride on one charge. 
I have the ability to use a charge tank charger at work for the return journey.

Several others have posted great comments. I'll address something I think is important that hasn't been addressed sufficiently:
Is your ride mostly flat or mostly hilly, and how much do you weigh? My experience mostly comes from (bi)cycling, but physics is physics, so it may be of some worth here. In a nutshell, I *suspect* if you're a big guy and your commute is hilly, you'll get less mileage per charge than if you're a smaller guy. If you commute is mostly flat I would expect less difference. *Unless* there's a lot of stop-n-go/traffic lights/stop signs on the off-highway section, in which case total weight (you+bike) becomes more important.

[Skidz]

My ride was in the Netherlands, and that country is as flat as a pancake

[Doug S]

...I *suspect* if you're a big guy and your commute is hilly, you'll get less mileage per charge than if you're a smaller guy. If you commute is mostly flat I would expect less difference.

I'm a big guy, and there's no question there's a weight penalty, which gets worse when the terrain gets steeper, but I'm sure with your cycling background you're overestimating it. (I was once a pretty diehard recreational cyclist, and I know that hills kill, and every extra ounce just makes the killing faster.) On a motorcycle, rolling resistance pales compared to aerodynamic losses. In fact, I wonder if a big part of the (again, fairly small) weight penalty is simply having a bigger frontal area than a smaller person.

Cruising speed, however, will kill your range faster than anything. If you're a commuter, it's easy to prove to yourself, which is what I did in the first several months of owning my bike. Simply keep your speed down some days, let yourself cruise faster on others, and you'll very quickly become a believer that slower = longer, probably more so than you would have guessed. You can even accelerate very hard on the slower days and still conserve range, if you only accelerate to the lower speed. I haven't bothered to test the weight vs. range question, but it wouldn't be too difficult to test by adding some weight some days (a passenger should work fine if you have one).

[Liamonski]

Long time lurker, first time poster to give my two cents.

I got the standard 2016 DSR a few months ago. Live at 9,000 feet in Colorado so it hasn't seen too much action yet, because Winter. But my commute is ~40 miles each way, depending on route. I work in Boulder at 5,150 feet, and the total elevation change can obviously vary on route as well.

I usually get to work with 41 miles on the trip odometer and a good 70-75% charge remaining. I don't charge at work. Then the uphill going-home portion takes another 40% off the charge, and I usually return home with charge in the 30s%.

I am 6', 160 pounds.

All routes are mostly 30-50mph backroads, but I will spend approximately 5 miles each way on a highway where I'm usually doing 65-70 (with ~4 possible stoplights across its 5 miles). Riding style is pretty conservative as I'm new to motorcycles. I definitely accelerate hard off every stoplight, though, because why wouldn't I?

I should also note these few rides I've done have started at 35ºF, ended in Boulder around 50-60º, and then the ride home usually has the temp drop back down into the 40s. So: cold, for sure. I've been super impressed with the range.

-Liam