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The volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has distributed hundreds of cooked meals each week for two years to elderly residents and vulnerable locals in southeast London. Yet, their operations face major disruption by the news that they will not have access to New Year’s Day.

This organization depended on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that customers to access its cars via smartphone. The company caused shock across London when it declared it would cease its UK operations from 1 January.

It will mean many helpers cannot collect food from a major food charity, which gathers excess produce from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are further away, costlier, or lack the same convenient access.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the community kitchen’s founder. “Personally me and my team are concerned by the logistical challenge we will face. Many groups like ours will face difficulties.”

“Faced with this reality, everyone is concerned and thinking: ‘How will we continue?’”

A Major Blow for Urban Car-Sharing

These volunteers are among over 500,000 people in London who were car club members, now potentially left without easy use to vehicles, avoiding the burden and cost of ownership. Most of those members were probably with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

The planned closure, pending consultation with employees, is a serious setback to the vision that vehicle clubs in urban areas could reduce the need for private vehicle ownership. Yet, some experts also suggested that Zipcar’s departure need not spell the end for the concept in Britain.

The Promise of Car Sharing

Shared vehicle use is prized by many urbanists and environmentalists as a way of reducing the problems linked to vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit idle on the street for 95% of the time, occupying parking. They also involve large CO2 output 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 public health through increased activity.

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 barely registered compared with its parent company's total earnings, and a loss that reached £11.7m in 2024 gave little incentive to continue.

Avis Budget has said the closure is part of a “wider restructuring across our international business, where we are taking targeted actions to simplify processes, enhance profitability”.

Its latest financial reports said revenues had declined as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “This trend reflect the continuing effect of the economic squeeze, which continues to suppress demand for non-essential services,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Hurdles

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

• Patchwork Policies: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a mosaic of different procedures and prices that made it harder.
• Congestion Charge: The closure coincides with electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• 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 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’re putting less polluting cars in their place.”

Lessons from Abroad

Nations in Europe offer examples for London to follow. Germany enacted national shared mobility laws 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 lags behind at 0.7.

“What we see is that shared mobility around the world, especially in Europe, is growing,” said Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

He suggested 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 looking at entering the London market: “Operators will fill this gap.”

What Comes Next?

Other players can roughly be divided into two camps:

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

For Rotherhithe community kitchen, the next month will be a scramble to find a way. The delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the broader impact of its departure on community groups and the future of shared mobility in the UK.