[sratner]

It wouldn't really be much different if we had ISO8601.1 and ISO8601.2, would it? The standard can define two different types, and it makes it clear what it means to have a time without an offset specifier. It also defines formats for durations, intervals, and repeating intervals.

Is the distinction in representation too subtle?

We accept this subtlety elsewhere; we are used to 0 and "0" being different things, and expect them to behave differently under operators. Few would find the following surprising:

    0 + 0 == 0
    "0" + "0" == "00"

Then why would we expect these to behave the same?

   20200710T010000Z + `3 hours`
   20200710T010000 + `3 hours`

The first is a fixed timestamp in UTC, the result of the second depends on timezone.