Paris taxi company stops using Tesla cars after fatal accident

By Geert De Clercq

PARIS (Reuters) – Leading Paris taxi company G7 has stopped using Tesla Model 3 vehicles in its fleet after one of the vehicles was involved in a fatal accident over the weekend.

G7 deputy chief Yann Ricordel said an off-duty taxi driver was driving to a restaurant with his family when the accident occurred on Saturday evening.

One person was killed in the accident, two sources said Tuesday. Twenty others were injured, one of the people involved in the investigation said, adding that three were in serious condition.

According to French media reports, the car hit a cyclist and three pedestrians before crashing into a van, leaving seven people seriously injured.

G7 said it would suspend the use of 37 Tesla Model 3 cars in its fleet until a police investigation into the case is completed.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ricordel quoted Tesla on Monday as saying that an initial investigation had ruled out a technical malfunction in the vehicle. The G7 manager said the driver tried to brake, but the car accelerated instead. It was unclear whether the car was operating in autopilot mode.

Jerome Coumet, mayor of Paris’ 13th arrondissement, said on Twitter: “The initial elements of the investigation suggested that the accelerator was stuck.”

Ricordel said: “Today we have two different views on this issue. We will maintain the suspension of the Tesla Model 3 during the ongoing investigation as a safety measure for our drivers, customers and other road users.”

Tesla collects detailed data from its vehicles’ sensors and cameras and has used that data in the past to refute claims that accidents were caused by faulty technology.

Ricordel said Tesla Model 3 owners in its fleet would be fully compensated for lost revenue during the suspension and that the company was looking for alternatives so drivers could get back to driving for G7 as quickly as possible.

He said the G7 was in contact with the government as it awaited the outcome of the police investigation.

G7 is one of the largest taxi companies in Paris with 9,000 affiliated drivers who are independent operators and own their vehicles. Half of the G7 fleet is made up of electric or hybrid vehicles and the company aims to have a 100% green fleet by 2027.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq and Alain Acco; Additional reporting by Silvia Aloisi, Joe White and Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Jan Harvey, Bernadette Baum and Cynthia Osterman)