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The community kitchen in Rotherhithe has been delivering a large number of prepared dishes each week for the past two years to pensioners and vulnerable locals in south London. However, the group's plans face major disruption by the news that they will not have access to New Year’s Day.

The group had relied on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that allowed its cars via smartphone. The company caused shock across London when it said it would shut down its UK operations from 1 January.

It will mean many volunteers will be unable to pick up supplies from a major food charity, which gathers excess produce from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Other options are less convenient, more expensive, or do not offer the same flexible hours.

“The impact will be massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “My team and I are concerned by the operational hurdle we will face. Many groups like ours will face difficulties.”

“Knowing the reality, everyone is concerned 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 who were car club members, now potentially 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, subject to consultation with staff, is a serious setback to the vision that vehicle clubs in urban areas could cut the need for owning a car. Yet, some analysts have noted that Zipcar’s departure need not mean the demise for the concept in Britain.

The Promise of Car Sharing

Car sharing is prized by city planners and green advocates as a way of reducing the problems linked to vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit idle on the street 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 transit more. That helps urban areas – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts public 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 income barely registered compared with its owner's overall annual revenue, and a deficit that reached £11.7m in 2024 gave no reason to continue.

Avis Budget has said the closure is part of a “wider restructuring across our international business, where we are taking deliberate steps to streamline operations, enhance profitability”.

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

London's Unique Challenges

However, industry observers noted that London has specific problems that made it difficult for the company and its rivals to succeed.

• Patchwork Policies: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a patchwork of varying processes and prices that complicate operations.
• Congestion Charge: The closure comes as electric cars becoming liable for London’s congestion charge, adding extra expenses.
• Unequal Parking Fees: Residents in some boroughs pay just £63 for a annual electric car parking permit. A floating car club 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 remove vehicles. We’re putting less polluting cars in their place.”

A European Example

Nations in Europe offer models for London to follow. Germany enacted national shared mobility laws in 2017, providing a unified system for parking, support and exemptions. Now, the country has several shared cars per 10,000 people, while France has 2.1 and Belgium has 6.3. The UK lags behind at 0.7.

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

Devanathan said authorities should start to treat car sharing 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: “There will be fill this gap.”

The Future Landscape

Other players can be split into two camps:

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. Peer-to-Peer Services: Which allow users to hire 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 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 some time 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 the volunteers in Rotherhithe, the coming weeks 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 shared mobility in the UK.