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A community kitchen 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, the group's plans have been thrown into disarray by the announcement that they will not have access to New Year’s Day.

This organization had relied on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that allowed its cars from the street. The company sent shockwaves through the capital when it declared it would shut down its UK business from 1 January.

It will mean many helpers 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 do not offer the same convenient access.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” stated Vimal Pandya, the community kitchen’s founder. “Personally me and my team are concerned by the operational hurdle we will face. A lot of people like ours will face difficulties.”

“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 among over 500,000 people in London who were car club members, who could be left without easy use to vehicles, without the hassle and cost of ownership. Most of those members were probably with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

This shutdown, subject to consultation with employees, is a serious setback to hopes that car sharing in cities could reduce the need for owning a car. However, some experts also suggested that Zipcar’s departure need not spell the end for the concept 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. Typically, vehicles sit idle on the street for the vast majority 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 public transport more. That helps urban areas – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts people’s health through more exercise.

What Went Wrong?

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before its acquisition by the US car rental group Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK income were minimal compared with its parent company's overall annual revenue, and a deficit that reached £11.7m in 2024 gave little incentive to continue.

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

Its latest financial reports said revenues had fallen as drivers took less frequent, 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

However, several experts noted that London has particular issues that made it much harder for the sector to succeed.

• Patchwork Policies: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a mosaic of varying processes and prices that complicate operations.
• New Costs: The closure coincides with electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding extra expenses.
• Unequal Parking Fees: Locals in some boroughs pay just £63 for a annual 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 resident’s permit,” argued 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 car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a nationwide framework for parking, support 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 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.”

What Comes Next?

Other players can be split into two camps:

1. Fleet Operators: Which maintain their own cars. Examples 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 – a kind of 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 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 a while for other players to build momentum. In the meantime, more people may choose to buy cars, and others across London will be without a convenient option.

For the volunteers in Rotherhithe, the coming weeks will be a scramble to find a way. The delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit underscores the broader impact of its departure on community groups and the future of car-sharing in the UK.