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A volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has provided a large number of cooked meals each week for the past two years to pensioners and needy locals in south London. However, their operations have been thrown into disarray by the announcement that they will lose access to 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. It sent shockwaves through the capital when it declared it would cease its UK business from 1 January.

This means many volunteers cannot pick up supplies from a major food charity, that collects excess produce from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are less convenient, costlier, or do not offer the same flexible hours.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the community kitchen’s founder. “My team and I are concerned by the logistical challenge we will face. Many groups like ours are going to struggle.”

“Knowing the reality, they are all worried and thinking: ‘How are we going to carry on?”

A Major Blow for Urban Car-Sharing

These volunteers are among more than half a million people in London registered as car club members, who could be left without easy use to vehicles, avoiding the burden and cost of ownership. The vast majority of those members were likely with Zipcar, which had a near-monopoly position in the city.

This shutdown, pending consultation with staff, is a serious setback to hopes that car sharing in urban areas could reduce the need for owning a car. However, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s exit need not spell the end for the concept in Britain.

The Promise of Shared Mobility

Shared vehicle use is valued by city planners and environmentalists as a way of mitigating the ills linked to vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit idle 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 walk, cycle and take transit more. That benefits cities – easing congestion and pollution – and boosts people’s health through more exercise.

Understanding the Decline

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

The parent company stated the closure is part of a “broader transformation across our global operations, where we are taking deliberate steps to simplify processes, improve returns”.

Zipcar’s most recent accounts said revenues had declined as drivers took less frequent, shorter trips. “This trend reflect the ongoing impact of the economic squeeze, which is dampening demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

London's Unique Challenges

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

• Patchwork Policies: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a patchwork of different procedures and costs that made it harder.
• Congestion Charge: The closure coincides with electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• Unequal Parking Fees: Residents in some boroughs pay as little as £63 for a annual 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,” argued Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We remove vehicles. We’re putting less polluting cars in their place.”

A European Example

Other European countries offer models for London to follow. Germany introduced 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 lags behind at 0.7.

“The evidence shows is that car sharing around the world, particularly on the continent, is expanding,” said Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

Devanathan said authorities should start to view vehicle clubs as a form of public transport, 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. Company-Owned Fleets: Which own or lease their own cars. Examples 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. Players include Britain’s Hiyacar and the US’s Getaround and Turo.

One company, a US-headquartered P2P service, is already weighing up 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.

Yet, it could take a while 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 scramble to find a solution. The delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit underscores the broader impact of its departure on community groups and the prospects of car-sharing in the UK.