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A community kitchen in Rotherhithe has distributed hundreds of cooked meals weekly for two years to elderly residents and vulnerable locals in southeast London. However, the group's plans have been thrown into disarray by the news that they will lose cars and vans on New Year’s Day.

The group depended on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that allowed its fleet of vehicles from the street. The company sent shockwaves across London when it said it would shut down its UK business from 1 January.

It will mean many volunteers will be unable to pick up supplies from a major food charity, that collects excess produce from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are further away, more expensive, or lack the same flexible hours.

“It’s going to be affected 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, everyone is concerned and thinking: ‘How are we going to carry on?”

A Significant Setback for City Vehicle Clubs

The community kitchen’s drivers are part of over 500,000 people in London who were car club members, now potentially left without convenient access to vehicles, without the hassle 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, subject to consultation with staff, is a big blow to the vision that vehicle clubs in urban areas could reduce the need for owning a car. Yet, some analysts also suggested that Zipcar’s departure need not mean the demise for the concept in Britain.

The Promise of Shared Mobility

Shared vehicle use is prized by many urbanists and green advocates as a way of mitigating the ills linked to vehicle ownership. Most cars sit as two-tonne dead weights on the street for the vast majority of the time, using up space. They also require large CO2 output to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to use active travel and take transit more. That helps urban areas – easing congestion and pollution – and boosts people’s health through more exercise.

Understanding the Decline

The company started in 2000 before being bought by the US car rental group Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK income were minimal compared with its owner's overall annual revenue, and a loss that grew to £11.7m in 2024 gave no reason to continue.

The parent company stated the closure is part of a “wider restructuring across our global operations, where we are taking targeted actions to streamline operations, improve returns”.

Its latest financial reports noted revenues had fallen as drivers took less frequent, shorter trips. “These changes reflect the ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis, which continues to suppress demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

London's Unique Hurdles

Yet, industry observers noted that London has particular issues that made it difficult for the company and its rivals to succeed.

• Patchwork Policies: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a mosaic of different procedures and prices that made it harder.
• New Costs: The closure comes as 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 per year, creating a significant barrier.

“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 introduce cleaner models in their place.”

A European Example

Nations in Europe offer models for London to follow. Germany enacted national car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a unified system for parking, subsidies and waivers. 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.

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

Devanathan said authorities should start to treat car sharing as a form of mass transit, and integrate it with train and bus stations. He added that a potential operator was already seriously considering entering the London market: “Operators will fill this gap.”

The Future Landscape

Other players can roughly be divided into two models:

1. Company-Owned Fleets: 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.

One company, a US-headquartered peer-to-peer platform, is assessing the UK gap. Rory Brimmer, its UK head, said there was a “significant chance” 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 a while for other players to establish themselves. In the meantime, more people may choose 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 solution. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the broader impact of its departure on vital services and the future of car-sharing in the UK.