🔗 Share this article

A volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has been delivering hundreds of cooked meals each week for the past two years to elderly residents and vulnerable locals in south London. However, the group's plans have been thrown into disarray by the announcement that they will not have cars and vans on New Year’s Day.

This organization depended on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that customers to access its cars from the street. It caused shock through the capital when it declared it would cease its UK operations from 1 January.

It will mean many volunteers will be unable to pick up supplies from the Felix Project, that collects surplus food from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are less convenient, more expensive, or lack the same flexible hours.

“The impact will be massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “Personally me and my team are worried about the operational hurdle we will face. A lot of people 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 Urban Car-Sharing

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

The planned closure, subject to consultation with employees, is a big blow to hopes that vehicle clubs in cities could reduce the need for owning a car. However, some analysts have noted that Zipcar’s exit need not spell the end for the idea in Britain.

The Promise of Car Sharing

Car sharing is valued by city planners and green advocates as a way of reducing the problems associated with vehicle ownership. Most cars sit idle on the street for the vast majority of the time, occupying parking. They also require large carbon emissions to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to walk, cycle and take transit more. That helps urban areas – easing congestion and pollution – and boosts public health through increased activity.

What Went Wrong?

The company started in 2000 before being bought by the American rental giant Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK income barely registered compared with its parent company's overall annual revenue, and a loss 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 noted revenues had declined as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “These changes reflect the continuing effect of the cost-of-living crisis, which is dampening demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

London's Unique Challenges

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

• Inconsistent Rules: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a patchwork of varying processes and costs that made it harder.
• Congestion Charge: The closure comes as electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• Parking Permit Disparity: 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 major disincentive.

“Our fees should be one-twentieth of a private parking cost,” 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 enacted national shared mobility laws in 2017, providing a nationwide framework for parking, subsidies 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.

“The evidence shows is that shared mobility around the world, particularly on the continent, is growing,” said Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

He suggested authorities should start to view vehicle clubs as a form of mass transit, and integrate it with train and bus stations. He added that one unnamed client was looking at entering the London market: “There will be fill this gap.”

What Comes Next?

The company’s competitors can be split into two models:

1. Fleet Operators: 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 hire out their own vehicles via an app – a kind of Airbnb for cars. Examples Britain’s Hiyacar and the US’s Getaround and Turo.

One company, a US-headquartered peer-to-peer platform, is assessing the UK gap. Rory Brimmer, its UK head, said there was a “big opportunity” 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 Rotherhithe community kitchen, the coming weeks will be a scramble to find a solution. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the wider implications of its departure on vital services and the future of car-sharing in the UK.