Major crash led to suspension of its Tesla Model 3 by taxi company

Paris: Paris-based taxi company G7, which reportedly operates one of the largest Tesla taxi fleets in the world, announced that it has suspended all its Model 3 taxis after a severe fatal crash that occurred last weekend.

According to the auto-tech website Electrek, one of the company's drivers was driving the Model 3 taxi as a personal vehicle on December 11 in Paris when he lost control, hit a cyclist, and ran over several pedestrians before crashing into a van.

The accident resulted in one death and injured 20 people, three critically.

After the crash, the Model 3 driver, who was not hurt, claimed that a "technical issue" resulted in the vehicle accelerating by itself, the report said.

"As a precautionary measure and in accordance with our procedures, G7 has decided to suspend the 37 drivers affiliated to G7 equipped with the model similar to the vehicle involved, pending the investigation," the company was quoted as saying.

G7 also operates a fleet of 50 Tesla Model S vehicles, but those are going to remain in service.

Tesla France has commented, stating that there's no indication that a technical defect was involved in this accident, the report said.