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A community kitchen in Rotherhithe has distributed hundreds of cooked meals weekly for two years to pensioners and needy locals in south London. However, their operations face major disruption by the announcement that they will not have use of New Year’s Day.

The group had relied on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that customers to access its fleet of vehicles via smartphone. The company caused shock through the capital when it said it would shut down its UK operations from 1 January.

It will mean many volunteers will be unable to collect food from a major food charity, that collects surplus food from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are further away, costlier, 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 will we continue?’”

A Major Blow for City Vehicle Clubs

The community kitchen’s drivers are part of more than half a million people in London who were 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 had a near-monopoly position in the city.

The planned closure, pending consultation with employees, is a serious setback to hopes that car sharing in urban areas could reduce the need for private vehicle ownership. Yet, some experts also suggested that Zipcar’s exit need not spell the end for the concept in Britain.

The Potential of Shared Mobility

Car sharing is prized by city planners and green advocates as a way of mitigating the problems linked to vehicle ownership. Most cars sit idle on the side of the road for 95% of the time, using up space. They also require large carbon emissions to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to walk, cycle and take public transport more. That benefits cities – easing congestion and pollution – and boosts people’s health through increased activity.

What Went Wrong?

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before being bought by the American rental giant Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK revenues barely registered compared with its owner's total earnings, and a deficit that grew to £11.7m in 2024 gave little incentive to continue.

Avis Budget has said the closure is part of a “broader transformation across our international business, where we are taking targeted actions to streamline operations, enhance profitability”.

Its latest financial reports noted revenues had declined as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “These changes reflect the continuing effect of the economic squeeze, which is dampening demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Hurdles

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

• Inconsistent Rules: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a patchwork of varying processes and prices that made it harder.
• New Costs: The closure comes as electric cars becoming liable for London’s congestion charge, adding extra expenses.
• Parking Permit Disparity: Locals in some boroughs pay just £63 for a year’s electric car parking permit. A floating car club would pay over £1,100 per year, creating a significant barrier.

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

A European Example

Nations in Europe offer examples for London to follow. Germany introduced national shared mobility laws in 2017, providing a unified system 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 treat car sharing as a form of public transport, and integrate it with train and bus stations. He added that one unnamed client was looking at entering the London market: “Operators will fill this gap.”

What Comes Next?

Other players can be split into two camps:

1. Company-Owned Fleets: 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 hire out their own vehicles via an app – similar to Airbnb for cars. Examples Britain’s Hiyacar and the US’s Getaround and Turo.

Turo, 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 some time for other players to build momentum. In the meantime, more people may feel forced to buy cars, and others across London will be without a convenient option.

For Rotherhithe community kitchen, the coming weeks will be a rush to find a way. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the wider implications of its departure on community groups and the prospects of shared mobility in the UK.