Questions on the R1S I wish Rivian would answer

What an exciting week! Rivian had their IPO on November 10th and raised over $11 billion to fund the expansion and growth of the company as they begin shipping their first EV, the R1T truck. The competition that is heating up in the EV space is exciting to see. Elon Musk truly started the race with Tesla and proved that EVs can be not only viable vehicles, but outstanding. Now Rivian is out to do the same for their "adventure vehicles" in the R1T truck and R1S SUV.

While we have heard quite a bit about the R1T, being the first model to ship from Rivian, it would be nice to start getting more details around specifics of both vehicles. In particular, the R1S could stand some love, considering there are maybe up to half of the 55,000 pre-orders that are for the R1S SUV.

Here is a short list of things pre-order holders would like to have more information on. There are more questions, certainly, but this seems to be a common list across many of the forum discussions.

1. The 21" wheels get the best eMPG, but they are an odd size that few vendors make tires for. Pirelli is the OEM manufacturer for the Rivian tires. What are the plans from Rivian for ensuring that owners can find replacements when they have a tire failure? Who will carry them in stock, since they are pretty specific to Rivian? Costco? DiscountTire? Can we only get replacements from Rivian direct? This is a big question that has forced people into looking at the 20" or 22" wheels. The 20" makes the most sense for the R1T and the off-road use it should receive. It makes less sense for the R1S that will probably be found on maintained roads, mostly.
2. In the R1S, please show us what the entry into the 3rd row seats is like and realistically, how much room is there for passengers? This is a big one for me. We have had a GMC Yukon Denali XL for several years and the captain chairs have been an invaluable feature. It is simple for kids and adults alike to get in and out of the vehicle. I do wish the R1S had captain chairs as an option, but without that, we would really like to know what that 3rd row is really like!
3. Is there a heat pump in either of the vehicles? Tesla seems to have made use of the heat pump in recent years, but only after many millions of miles of experience. Maintaining the battery performance in cold-weather will be critical to the succes of Rivian long-term. To be fair, Tesla doesn't advertise the heat pump on their web site either, but they let the media do all the advertising for them and that made the feature fairly well-known.
4. Where is the color limestone! This is one very interesting and possibly unique color Rivian offers, but there have been no sightings of it in person to date. Not from the First Drive events at the factory in Normal, IL or spied on roads. Does this color even exist? Thankfully, all the colors offered seem to look really, really great. I flip-flop between them all the time with Forest Green, El Cap Granite, White and Rivian Blue in my favorite list. Maybe I will need to pick up a second Rivian later on to have a second color?!?

These are just some of the more common questions I see in forums on a regular basis, right after people asking when they will hear from a Rivian Guide with an estimated delivery date or my favorite: "If I place an order today, when can I realistically expect to take delivery?" :-)