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The community kitchen in Rotherhithe has provided a large number of prepared dishes weekly for two years to pensioners and needy locals in southeast London. However, their operations have been thrown into disarray by the announcement that they will not have cars and vans on New Year’s Day.

The group depended on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that customers to access its fleet of vehicles via smartphone. The company sent shockwaves through the capital when it declared it would cease its UK operations from 1 January.

This means many helpers cannot collect food from a major food charity, that collects excess produce from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are further away, more expensive, or do not offer the same flexible hours.

“The impact will be massively,” stated Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “Personally me and my team are worried about the logistical challenge we will face. Many groups like ours are going to struggle.”

“Faced with this reality, they are all worried and thinking: ‘How are we going to carry on?”

A Major Blow for City Vehicle Clubs

These volunteers are among more than half a million people in London registered as car club members, now potentially left without convenient access to vehicles, avoiding the burden and cost of ownership. The vast majority of those people were likely with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

The planned closure, subject to consultation with staff, is a big blow to the vision that car sharing in cities could reduce the need for owning a car. However, some analysts have noted that Zipcar’s departure need not spell the end for the concept in Britain.

The Potential of Car Sharing

Shared vehicle use is valued by city planners and environmentalists as a way of mitigating the problems associated with vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit as two-tonne dead weights on the side of the road for 95% of the time, using up space. They also involve large carbon emissions to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to use active travel and take public transport more. That benefits cities – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts public health through more exercise.

What Went Wrong?

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before being bought by the US car rental group Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK income barely registered compared with its parent company's overall annual revenue, and a deficit that grew to £11.7m in 2024 gave no reason to continue.

The parent company stated the closure is part of a “wider restructuring across our international business, where we are taking deliberate steps to simplify processes, enhance profitability”.

Its latest financial reports said revenues had fallen as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “These changes reflect the ongoing impact of the economic squeeze, which is dampening demand for non-essential services,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Challenges

However, several experts noted that London has particular issues that made it much harder for the company and its rivals to succeed.

• Patchwork Policies: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a mosaic of different procedures and prices that made it harder.
• Congestion Charge: The closure coincides with electric cars becoming liable for London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• Parking Permit Disparity: Locals in some boroughs pay as little as £63 for a year’s electric car parking permit. A similar shared vehicle would pay over £1,100 annually, creating a significant barrier.

“We should literally be charged one-twentieth of a resident’s permit,” argued Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We’re taking cars off the street. We’re putting less polluting cars in their place.”

Lessons from Abroad

Nations in Europe offer models for London to follow. Germany enacted national shared mobility laws in 2017, providing a nationwide framework for parking, subsidies and exemptions. Now, the country has 5.4 shared cars per 10,000 people, while France has 2.1 and Belgium has 6.3. The UK trails at 0.7.

“What we see is that car sharing around the world, particularly on the continent, is expanding,” said Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

He suggested authorities should start to view vehicle clubs as a form of mass transit, and integrate it with train and bus stations. He added that a potential operator was already seriously considering entering the London market: “Operators will fill this gap.”

What Comes Next?

Other players can roughly be divided into two camps:

1. Fleet Operators: Which maintain their own cars. This includes Denmark’s GreenMobility, France’s Free2Move, and Germany’s Miles Mobility.
2. Person-to-Person Rentals: Which allow users to rent out their own vehicles via an app – a kind of Airbnb for cars. Players include Britain’s Hiyacar and the US’s Getaround and Turo.

One company, a US-headquartered peer-to-peer platform, is assessing the UK gap. Rory Brimmer, its UK head, said there was a “big opportunity” to win more users. “There is a void that is going to need to be filled, because London still needs to move,” Brimmer said.

However, it could take a while for other players to establish themselves. In the meantime, more people may choose to buy cars, and many across London will be without a convenient option.

For Rotherhithe community kitchen, the next month will be a rush to find a solution. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the broader impact of its departure on community groups and the future of shared mobility in the UK.