PARIS — Main Paris taxi firm G7 has suspended using Tesla Mannequin 3 automobiles in its fleet after a deadly accident involving one of many autos over the weekend.

G7 Deputy CEO Yann Ricordel mentioned an off-duty taxi driver was taking his household to a restaurant when the accident occurred on Saturday night.

The accident killed one particular person, two sources mentioned on Tuesday. Twenty others have been wounded, one of many individuals near the investigation mentioned, including that three have been in critical situation.

In response to French media experiences, the automotive hit a bike owner and three pedestrians earlier than crashing right into a van, and 7 individuals have been critically injured.

G7 mentioned it might droop using 37 Tesla Mannequin 3 automobiles in its fleet till a police investigation into the case is accomplished.

Tesla didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Ricordel cited Tesla as saying on Monday that an preliminary inquiry had dominated out a technical dysfunction of the automobile. The G7 government mentioned the driving force had tried to brake however the automotive as an alternative accelerated. It was unclear if the automotive was working in Autopilot mode.

Jerome Coumet, mayor of Paris’ thirteenth arrondissement, mentioned on Twitter, “The primary parts of the investigation indicated that the accelerator would have gotten caught.”

Ricordel mentioned: “At the moment, now we have two divergent views on the topic. We’ll keep the suspension of the Tesla Mannequin 3 whereas the investigation is ongoing, as a security measure for our drivers, clients and different highway customers.”

Tesla collects detailed knowledge from the sensors and cameras on its autos and has used such knowledge prior to now to problem claims that accidents have been brought on by malfunctioning know-how.

Ricordel mentioned Mannequin 3 house owners in its fleet can be absolutely compensated for misplaced earnings throughout the suspension and that the corporate was in search of options so the drivers may resume driving for G7 as quickly as attainable.

He mentioned that G7 was in touch with the federal government because it awaited the result of the police investigation.

G7 is certainly one of Paris’ largest taxi firms, with 9,000 affiliated drivers, who’re impartial operators who personal their autos. Half of the G7 fleet are electrical or hybrid autos and the corporate goals to have a one hundred pc inexperienced fleet by 2027.

French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari mentioned on Wednesday there was no suggestion, at this stage, that the accident was linked to a technical downside.

“There aren’t any parts (at this stage) that might result in imagine it was tied to a technical downside,” Djebbari instructed RMC radio on Wednesday.

The minister mentioned he spoke on Tuesday night time with the chief government of Tesla Europe who instructed him there had been no security alerts about that mannequin.