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The community kitchen in Rotherhithe has provided a large number of prepared dishes weekly for two years to pensioners and vulnerable locals in south London. Yet, their operations face major disruption by the news that they will lose cars and vans on New Year’s Day.

This organization depended on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that allowed its fleet of vehicles from the street. It caused shock through the capital when it said it would shut down its UK business from 1 January.

It will mean many volunteers cannot collect food from a major food charity, which gathers surplus food from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are less convenient, costlier, or lack the same flexible hours.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” stated Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “Personally me and my team are concerned by the operational hurdle 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 who were car club members, who could be left without convenient access to vehicles, avoiding the burden and cost of ownership. Most of those people were likely with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

The planned closure, subject to consultation with employees, is a big blow to the vision that car sharing in cities could reduce the need for private vehicle ownership. Yet, some analysts also suggested that Zipcar’s departure need not mean the demise for the concept in Britain.

The Promise of Shared Mobility

Car sharing is valued by many urbanists and green advocates as a way of mitigating the problems linked to vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit idle on the side of the road for the vast majority of the time, occupying parking. They also involve large carbon emissions to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to use active travel and take transit more. That benefits cities – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts people’s health through more exercise.

What Went Wrong?

The company started in 2000 before its acquisition by the US car rental group Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK revenues were minimal compared with its parent company'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, enhance profitability”.

Zipcar’s most recent accounts said revenues had declined as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “These changes reflect the ongoing impact of the economic squeeze, which continues to suppress demand for non-essential services,” it said.

London's Unique Challenges

Yet, several experts noted that London has specific problems that made it difficult for the sector to succeed.

• Inconsistent Rules: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a patchwork of different procedures and prices that made it harder.
• New Costs: The closure coincides with electric cars becoming liable for London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• 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.

“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.”

A European Example

Nations in Europe offer examples for London to follow. Germany introduced national car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a unified system for parking, support and waivers. Now, the country has several 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, especially in Europe, is growing,” said Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

Devanathan said authorities should start to treat car sharing as a form of mass transit, and link 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. Fleet Operators: 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 – 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 “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 a while for other players to establish themselves. In the meantime, more people may choose to buy cars, and others across London will be without a convenient option.

For Rotherhithe community kitchen, the next month will be a rush to find a solution. The delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit underscores the broader impact of its departure on vital services and the prospects of shared mobility in the UK.