🔗 Share this article

The volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has provided hundreds of cooked meals each week for two years to pensioners and needy locals in southeast London. Yet, the group's plans have been thrown into disarray by the news that they will not have use of New Year’s Day.

The group had relied on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that allowed its fleet of vehicles from the street. The company caused shock through the capital 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 supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are less convenient, more expensive, or do not offer the same flexible hours.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the community kitchen’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.”

“Knowing the reality, everyone is concerned and thinking: ‘How will we continue?’”

A Major Blow for City Vehicle Clubs

The community kitchen’s drivers are among over 500,000 people in London who were car club members, now potentially left without convenient access to vehicles, avoiding the burden and cost of ownership. The vast majority of those members were likely with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

The planned closure, pending consultation with employees, is a big blow to the vision that car sharing in urban areas could cut the need for private vehicle ownership. Yet, some analysts also suggested that Zipcar’s exit need not spell the end for the concept in Britain.

The Potential of Car Sharing

Car sharing is prized by city planners and green advocates as a way of mitigating the problems associated with 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 walk, cycle and take transit more. That helps urban areas – reducing congestion and pollution – and improves public health through increased activity.

Understanding the Decline

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before its acquisition by the US car rental group Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK revenues barely registered compared with its owner's total earnings, and a deficit 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 global operations, where we are taking targeted actions to simplify processes, improve returns”.

Its latest financial reports noted revenues had declined as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “These changes reflect the ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis, which is dampening demand for non-essential services,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Hurdles

Yet, industry observers noted that London has specific problems that made it much harder for the company and its rivals to succeed.

• Inconsistent Rules: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a mosaic of varying processes and prices that made it harder.
• Congestion Charge: The closure coincides with electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding extra expenses.
• 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 per year, creating a major disincentive.

“We should literally be charged one-twentieth of a resident’s permit,” said Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We’re taking cars off the street. We introduce cleaner models in their place.”

Lessons from Abroad

Other European countries offer models for London to follow. Germany introduced national shared mobility laws 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 lags behind at 0.7.

“The evidence shows is that car sharing around the world, especially in Europe, is growing,” commented 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.”

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 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.

One company, a US-headquartered P2P service, 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.

However, it could take some time for other players to establish themselves. For now, more people may choose to buy cars, and others 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 broader impact of its departure on community groups and the prospects of car-sharing in the UK.