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This is just a general range observation that all of the experienced Zero riders already know, but since I have actual numbers with my SR/F I wanted to throw it out.
My typical one way commute ride is 28 miles of interstate and 7 miles of surface streets.
Yesterday, I got in the high speed land and kept up with traffic.  75 to 85+mph most of the time.  A little bit at 40mph due to construction.  I went from 93% SoC to 42% for 51% total capacity consumed.
Today, I stayed in the second lane from the left and kept up with traffic.  65+ most of the time.  A little bit at 30mph due to construction.  92% down to 52% on arrival for 40% capacity consumed.
Same trip in nearly identical traffic.  51% used at 85+mph.  40% used at 65+mph.

You used 51% of the battery going 28 highway miles and 7 street miles?  That sucks, even if you were going 75-85 mph on the highway.

Sounds like the person you spoke to may have been in the marketing department rather than engineering, i.e., they have no idea about the technical specifications of the motorcycles. 

The carbon edition is priced much more competitively than I imagined.  I didn't see any mention of ABS or traction control though and I didn't see wheel speed sensors in the pictures.  Seems like a curious omission. 

I'm curious how loud you think it is.

I'm curious about the noise too, although I've found that at speed wind noise often overcomes the rest of the noises coming from my electric bikes.  Is this the same for the chain?  I would probably miss that low speed silence of the belt.

Regarding the manufacturing in China, this is not necessarily something to be feared.  China will manufacture to your specifications, i.e., if you want total crap, they'll build that, and if you want high quality, they can build that too.  They can do both cheaper than we can in the US.  Many of the "manufactured in China" quality issues stem from buying products manufactured in China by Chinese companies competing solely on price, but they are completely capable of manufacturing high end quality items that you specify and inspect.

Is Fuell bankrupt yet?

I guess we now wait on news from Lightning, but I'm expecting their premium Strike, which will be released first, will have significantly higher specs than the SR/F but will come with a significantly higher price as well.  The base model, which we don't have any idea on when will be made, will clearly be much cheaper than the SR/F but what will its specifications be?  At $12,998 it may undercut the Zero SR significantly, but I doubt its specs will match the SR/F.  In the end, the Strike and SR/F may not end up as being true competitors at all as the SR/F might slide in right between the Strike base and the premium.  The different options/levels that Lightning offers between the base and the premium, if any, could be interesting.