🔗 Share this article

The community kitchen in Rotherhithe has distributed hundreds of cooked meals weekly for two years to elderly residents and needy locals in southeast London. However, the group's plans face major disruption by the news that they will lose use of New Year’s Day.

This organization had relied on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that allowed its fleet of vehicles from the street. It caused shock through the capital when it declared it would cease its UK business from 1 January.

This means many helpers cannot collect food from a major food charity, that collects excess produce from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Other options are further away, more expensive, or lack the same flexible hours.

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

“Faced with this reality, they are all worried and thinking: ‘How are we going to carry on?”

A Major Blow 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, who could be left without easy use to vehicles, avoiding the burden and cost of ownership. Most of those members were likely with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

This shutdown, pending consultation with staff, is a big blow to hopes that vehicle clubs in urban areas could cut the need for private vehicle ownership. However, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s departure need not spell the end for the concept in Britain.

The Potential of Car Sharing

Shared vehicle use 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 side of the road for 95% of the time, occupying parking. They also involve large carbon emissions to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to walk, cycle and take public transport more. That benefits cities – easing congestion and pollution – and improves people’s health through more exercise.

Understanding the Decline

The company started in 2000 before being bought by the American rental giant Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK revenues barely registered compared with its parent company's total earnings, and a loss that grew to £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 simplify processes, 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 discretionary spending,” it said.

London's Unique Challenges

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

• Patchwork Policies: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a patchwork of different procedures and prices that complicate operations.
• Congestion Charge: The closure comes as electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding extra expenses.
• Parking Permit Disparity: Residents in some boroughs pay as little as £63 for a year’s electric car parking permit. A similar shared vehicle would pay over £1,100 annually, creating a major disincentive.

“We should literally be charged one-twentieth of a private parking cost,” argued 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 car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a unified system for parking, subsidies 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 shared mobility around the world, especially in Europe, is expanding,” said Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

Devanathan said authorities should start to view vehicle clubs 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 camps:

1. Fleet Operators: Which maintain 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. Players include Britain’s Hiyacar and the US’s Getaround and Turo.

Turo, 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.

Yet, it could take some time for other players to build momentum. In the meantime, 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 rush to find a way. 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.