Tesla says Model 3 in fatal French taxi car crash had no technical faults

Tesla has defended its role in a fatal accident involving an off-duty Tesla Model 3 taxi, saying the car had no technical faults.

Paris taxi company G7 pulled all 37 of its Tesla Model 3 taxi cars off the road following the crash, which occurred on Saturday night in the French capital when it was driven by one of its drivers while not on shift.

According to reports, the driver lost control while travelling in the 13th district with his family on board in the capital’s south-east, rapidly accelerating before careening into passersby, killing one and seriously injuring some 20 more with three being submitted to intensive care.

French transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari was reported to have said on Wednesday that he had “no concerns” about the Tesla vehicle’s role in the fatal accident and that the judicial investigation would shed light on this matter .

“At this stage we have no technical element which would make us believe that there is a problem of technical malfunction on these models,” said Jean-Baptiste Djebbari to French radio station RMC (via French MSN).

In a tweet shortly after the accident, mayor of the 13th district Jérôme Coumet said it was thought that the accident might’ve occurred due to a malfunctioning accelerator pedal, but Tesla has since said that upon checking the vehicle’s data remotely it found no technical faults.

A photo posted by him on Twitter showed the scene of the accident with the Tesla seriously damaged on the right:

Shortly after the crash, G7 said it would continue to deploy its remaining Tesla Model 3s but it has since pulled them all from service, according to Reuters.

G7 deputy chief executive Yann Ricordel said: “Today, we have two divergent views on the subject. We will maintain the suspension of the Tesla Model 3 while the investigation is ongoing, as a safety measure for our drivers, customers and other road users.”

Tesla is able to remotely roll out software updates and make certain adjustments if needed on its cars, as is the case with smartphones. Conversely, it can also retrieve telemetry data from its vehicles. 

“We are able to know what happened or what did not happen on board one of our models”, a spokesperson for Tesla in France told French news agency Le Monde, although it was not specific about the type of information collected at the outcome of the Paris crash.

The cause of the accident will be investigated to determine why the driver, who was travelling at a very high speed, lost control of his vehicle.

A series of accidents involving emergency vehicles also saw 11 incidents involving Tesla cars placed under investigation in August, and Tesla since has since released a software update that it says addresses the issue.

According to French media, the driver of the Tesla taxi has since been placed under formal investigation for manslaughter.