On December 11, a terrible accident involving a Tesla Model 3cab from the G7 company killed one person and seriously injured 20 others in Paris. The company immediately reacted and suspended the 37 vehicles of the same model from its fleet until the causes of the accident are clarified. According to our colleagues from Caradisiac, the investigation did not reveal any technical problem, but before getting back behind the wheel of these cars, the drivers had to follow a specific training.

The Tesla Model 3 is the brand’s flagship vehicle. Last year, more than 20,000 of these electric vehicles were sold in France. After this accident, the cab driver claimed to have lost control of his car, which had spun out of control when the brake pedal was not responding. The G7 company preferred to suspend the circulation of the Tesla Model 3 as a precautionary measure. The investigations conducted by the company and Tesla have not revealed any technical failure or malfunction according to what G7 told Caradisiac:

“If the work of this Expert did not reveal any defect or failure of the vehicle, it has on the other hand highlighted the fact that the Tesla Model 3 is not a vehicle like any other and that the equipment of this car and the embedded technology require, to be perfectly mastered, a training that alone ensures a maximum level of safety. Similarly, it appeared that particular attention should be paid to system updates and to the need for regular updates. In light of this and pending the outcome of the judicial investigation, we have decided that any driver with a Tesla Model 3 vehicle can reconnect to our platform under certain conditions. The drivers had to undergo specific training by the automotive expert training organization to enable them to fully understand the operation of their vehicle and to ensure that system updates were downloaded. This condition was accepted by the drivers concerned, who therefore completed the training and were thus able to resume their activities with G7 as normal recently.”

G7 cab drivers own their vehicles and pay a fee to the company for access to its call platform. All Tesla Model 3 owners had to do without its services during the time of the investigation, but some preferred to remove the G7 logos and continue to work by waiting in line at the station or stopping when people wave at them on the street. It is not known how many drivers have returned to the company after the required training or whether all of them intend to do so.

Translated from Les Tesla Model 3 de la compagnie de taxis G7 circulent de nouveau à Paris