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A volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has provided hundreds of prepared dishes weekly for two years to elderly residents and vulnerable locals in southeast London. Yet, the group's plans face major disruption by the news that they will not have access to New Year’s Day.

The group depended on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that customers to access its cars from the street. It caused shock across London when it said it would cease its UK operations from 1 January.

It will mean many volunteers cannot collect food from a major food charity, that collects surplus food from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Other options are further away, more expensive, or lack the same convenient access.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” stated Vimal Pandya, the community kitchen’s founder. “My team and I are worried about the logistical challenge we will face. A lot of people like ours are going to struggle.”

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

A Significant Setback for City Vehicle Clubs

The community kitchen’s drivers are part of more than half a million people in London registered as car club members, who could be left without easy use to vehicles, without the hassle and cost of ownership. The vast majority of those people were probably with Zipcar, which had a near-monopoly position in the city.

This shutdown, subject to consultation with staff, is a big blow to hopes that car sharing in cities could cut the need for owning a car. Yet, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s exit need not mean the demise for the idea in Britain.

The Promise of Shared Mobility

Car sharing is prized by many urbanists and green advocates as a way of mitigating the ills linked to vehicle ownership. Most cars sit idle on the street for 95% of the time, using up space. They also require large CO2 output to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to walk, cycle and take transit more. That helps urban areas – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts people’s health through more exercise.

Understanding the Decline

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

Avis Budget has said the closure is part of a “wider restructuring across our global operations, where we are taking deliberate steps to simplify processes, improve returns”.

Its latest financial reports noted revenues had fallen as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “This trend reflect the continuing effect of the cost-of-living crisis, which is dampening demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

London's Unique Hurdles

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

• Patchwork Policies: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a mosaic of varying processes and costs that complicate operations.
• New Costs: The closure coincides with electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• Unequal Parking Fees: Residents 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 major disincentive.

“Our fees should be one-twentieth of a private parking cost,” said Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We remove vehicles. We introduce cleaner models in their place.”

Lessons from Abroad

Other European countries offer examples for London to follow. Germany introduced national shared mobility laws in 2017, providing a nationwide framework for parking, support and waivers. 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.

“The evidence shows is that shared mobility around the world, especially in Europe, is growing,” commented 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 one unnamed client was already seriously considering entering the London market: “There will be fill this gap.”

The Future Landscape

The company’s competitors can roughly be divided into two models:

1. Company-Owned Fleets: Which own or lease 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 – similar to 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 already weighing up the UK gap. Rory Brimmer, its UK managing director, said there was a “significant chance” to win more users. “A space exists 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. For now, more people may choose to buy cars, and many across London will be left without access.

For the volunteers in Rotherhithe, the next month will be a rush to find a way. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit underscores the wider implications of its departure on community groups and the future of car-sharing in the UK.