This is great news: car manufacturer Volvo recently announced all of its new cars will be either partially or fully electric from 2019.

The corporation now joins Tesla as a frontrunner in the sector -- but Germany’s Big Three of Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen (VW) and BMW are still lagging way behind the competition.

Following VW’s emissions scandal in 2015, all three corporations have been hit with fresh allegations of collusion over their emissions technology by the European Commission.

It’s time they step their efforts up a gear.

With Volvo’s latest announcement, manufacturers are feeling the pressure to keep up with industry standards. Let’s ask the Big Three to pledge their own commitment to producing fossil free vehicles.

Volvo just pledged to switch to manufacturing hybrid and electric cars only by 2019 -- will Germany's Big Three take up this challenge?

Air quality laws are being broken in more than 130 cities, across 23 countries, in the EU, causing huge levels of pollution. Passenger vehicles and heavy-duty trucks are the main sources of this pollution.

Following an investigation by the EU, Germany’s Big Three stand accused of collusion on vital technology, including emissions equipment -- an allegation that could see BMW and Mercedes-Benz caught up in the scandal that engulfed Volkswagen.

BMW released a statement strongly denying the claim, saying, “BMW vehicles are not manipulated and comply with respective legal requirements… [we] categorically reject accusations that... vehicles sold by the company do not provide adequate exhaust gas treatment.”

But words are cheap.

Germany's auto industry can’t afford to take a passenger’s seat while their global competitors take the wheel on an issue this big.

Vehicle emissions are one of the biggest global contributors to climate change. We want a written commitment from the Big Three that puts

sustainability at the heart of their operations. 

Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz: don’t take a passenger’s seat while your competitors take the wheel! Commit to manufacturing hybrid and electric cars only!

When it comes to protecting the climate, SumOfUs members like you have a record of speaking truth to power in the fight to save the planet. 83,000 members came together to fight Exxon Mobil’s distortion of climate change data, while over 120,000 of us spoke up when Google were caught funding the campaigns of climate deniers in Congress.

Now it’s time for VW, BMW and Mercedes-Benz to take the breaks off and come out full throttle in support for hybrid and electric-powered vehicles -- for the good of the planet.

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