Tesla Motors' plans to expand just got a big boost, as the state of California has announced it will give the Palo Alto-based company a $34.7 million tax break to increase its production capacity. The EV manufacturer is being given a pass on sales and use taxes on up to $415 million worth of equipment, according to a report on the San Francisco Chronicle's website.

Tesla is currently on track to produce 21,500 cars, although the planned expansion should more than double that capacity to 56,500 units, adding 112 jobs at Tesla's Fremont factory. "I'm pleased we could take this action to encourage Tesla to expand its electric vehicle production in California, which will create green jobs and improve our air quality," State Treasurer Bill Lockyer said. The state estimates that between the additional jobs and (hoped for) increase in sales, it will recoup the costs of the tax break in more taxes.

Ohio auto dealers will not let a legislative loss stop their fight against Tesla Motors. Earlier this month, the California-based electric vehicle company had to marshal its forces to stop a state law (Senate Bill 137) that would have banned Tesla stores in Ohio. The Ohio senate voted against the amendment, which set the stage for the dealers to try a new strategy: getting rid of Tesla's sales license through the courts.

The dealers, through their trade group, claim Tesla is violating Ohio law because the automaker didn't "provide a copy of its contract with the manufacturer of the vehicles to be sold," writes The Columbus Dispatch. Since the license was given in error, the logic goes, it should now be taken away. The dealers are suing Tesla, the Ohio Department of Public Safety and the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Tesla says it's all nonsense, and James Chen, Tesla's vice president of regulatory affairs and associate general counsel, told the Dispatch this is just a case of bullying. "The dealers, when they're defeated in the court of public opinion, in the media and in the legislature, they then go to the courts," he said.

Tesla owns its own network of stores and has long claimed that that pure electric vehicles can't be sold at traditional dealerships where there are also gas cars available. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this year that, "It's not possible to effectively sell a new technology like electric vehicles, for a dealer to do that, without undermining the story behind gasoline cars." We're still waiting on the result of a successful grassroots petition to the White House asking for national action on the issue, but we should be hearing a response from the Ohio court on the state license issue within a month.

Fire investigators don't think the latest fire involving a Tesla Model S can be counted as "Battery Fire No. 4." Their initial findings say the incident, which happened in a Southern California garage last month, was not caused by the car.

The fire, which happened in Irvine, CA, on November 15, may instead have been caused by an overheated wall charging system. "The cable was fine on the vehicle side; the damage was on the wall side. Our inspection of the car and the battery made clear that neither were the source" of the fire, Tesla said in a statement that cited the report by the Orange County Fire Authority. The OCFA is finished with its investigation and will leave it to Tesla and insurance companies to determine the actual cause of the fire. Fire damage to the wall socket makes it tough to determine with it was caused by faulty wiring, OCFA spokesman Steve Concialdi told Bloomberg.

Big data is once again helping Tesla defend its stance. The automaker says it reviewed the data log that records the car's charging cycles and found them to be normal, with no fluctuations or malfunctions within the battery or charge electronics.

Given the findings, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration may be able to stay focused on investigating the other three Model S fires that happened during the fall. In two of those fires, the Model S hit metal debris on the road, which then flew up and punctured the battery. No serious injuries were reported. Tesla has updated the Model S' suspension software for safer ground clearance at highway speeds to avoid a third incident like it.

Despite being just three of hundreds of thousands of car fires every year, Tesla Motors' stocks have dropped 25 percent in value since the fires started. They reached a peak at $193.37 this year but then fell to around $121. The closed at $140.72 yesterday so, while it's not roaring like it was earlier in 2013, the cost of a TSLA doesn't seem to be flattening out.

Automatic Charge Current Reduction

If the Model S onboard charging system detects unexpected fluctuations in the input power to the vehicle, it will automatically reduce the charging current by 25%. For example, this will reduce a 40 amp charge rate to 30 amps.

This charge is designed to help protect you even when a problem exists that is outside of the car or charging electronics. It should significantly increase robustness and safety in the unlikely situation that a home wiring system, receptacle, adapter or cord is unable to meet its rated current capacity.