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The community kitchen in Rotherhithe has provided hundreds of prepared dishes weekly for the past two years to pensioners and vulnerable locals in south London. However, their operations face major disruption by the news that they will lose access to New Year’s Day.

The group had relied on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that customers to access its fleet of vehicles via smartphone. The company caused shock across London when it declared it would cease its UK business from 1 January.

It will mean many volunteers cannot collect food from the Felix Project, that collects excess produce from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are less convenient, costlier, or do not offer the same flexible hours.

“The impact will be massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the community kitchen’s founder. “My team and I are worried about the operational hurdle we will face. A lot of people like ours will face difficulties.”

“Knowing the reality, they are all worried and thinking: ‘How are we going to carry on?”

A Significant Setback for Urban Car-Sharing

These volunteers 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, without the hassle and cost of ownership. Most of those members were probably with Zipcar, which had a near-monopoly position in the city.

This shutdown, subject to consultation with employees, is a big blow to hopes that vehicle clubs in cities could cut the need for owning a car. Yet, some analysts have noted that Zipcar’s exit need not mean the demise for the idea in Britain.

The Potential of Car Sharing

Car sharing is valued by city planners and environmentalists as a way of mitigating the ills associated with vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit as two-tonne dead weights on the side of the road for 95% of the time, using up space. They also involve large carbon emissions to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to use active travel and take public transport more. That benefits cities – easing congestion and pollution – and improves people’s health through more exercise.

What Went Wrong?

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before its acquisition 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 deficit that reached £11.7m in 2024 gave little incentive to continue.

The parent company stated the closure is part of a “broader transformation across our global operations, where we are taking targeted actions to simplify processes, enhance profitability”.

Its latest financial reports said revenues had fallen as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “These changes reflect the continuing effect of the cost-of-living crisis, which continues to suppress demand for non-essential services,” it said.

London's Unique Hurdles

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

• Inconsistent Rules: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a patchwork of different procedures and costs that made it harder.
• Congestion Charge: The closure coincides with electric cars becoming liable for London’s congestion charge, adding extra expenses.
• 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 significant barrier.

“Our fees should be one-twentieth of a private parking cost,” argued Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We remove vehicles. We introduce cleaner models in their place.”

A European Example

Other European countries offer examples for London to follow. Germany introduced national car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a unified system for parking, support 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 trails at 0.7.

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

Devanathan said authorities should start to view vehicle clubs as a form of public transport, and link it with train and bus stations. He added that a potential operator 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. Company-Owned Fleets: 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 rent out their own vehicles via an app – similar to Airbnb for cars. Players include Britain’s Hiyacar and the US’s Getaround and Turo.

One company, a US-headquartered peer-to-peer platform, is already weighing up 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.

Yet, it could take a while for other players to build momentum. In the meantime, more people may choose to buy cars, and others across London will be left without access.

For Rotherhithe community kitchen, the next month will be a scramble to find a solution. The delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit underscores the wider implications of its departure on vital services and the prospects of shared mobility in the UK.