🔗 Share this article

A community kitchen in Rotherhithe has provided hundreds of prepared dishes weekly for the past two years to elderly residents and needy locals in south London. Yet, the group's plans face major disruption by the announcement that they will lose cars and vans on New Year’s Day.

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

This means many volunteers will be unable to pick up supplies from a major food charity, that collects surplus food from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are less convenient, costlier, or lack the same convenient access.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “My team and I are worried about 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 Major Blow for Urban Car-Sharing

The community kitchen’s drivers are among more than half a million people in London who were car club members, now potentially left without easy use to vehicles, without the hassle and cost of ownership. The vast majority of those members were probably with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

The planned closure, subject to consultation with employees, is a serious setback to the vision that car sharing in urban areas could cut the need for private vehicle ownership. However, some analysts have noted that Zipcar’s departure need not spell the end for the idea in Britain.

The Promise of Shared Mobility

Car sharing is prized by city planners and environmentalists as a way of reducing the problems associated with vehicle ownership. Most cars sit as two-tonne dead weights on the side of the road for 95% of the time, occupying parking. They also require large carbon emissions to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to walk, cycle and take transit more. That helps urban areas – reducing congestion and pollution – and improves people’s 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 income 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 “broader transformation across our international business, where we are taking deliberate steps to simplify processes, enhance profitability”.

Zipcar’s most recent accounts noted revenues had declined as drivers took less frequent, shorter trips. “These changes reflect the continuing effect of the economic squeeze, which is dampening demand for non-essential services,” it said.

London's Unique Challenges

Yet, several experts noted that London has particular issues that made it difficult for the sector to succeed.

• Patchwork Policies: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a patchwork of varying processes 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 just £63 for a year’s electric car parking permit. A floating car club would pay over £1,100 per year, creating a major disincentive.

“Our fees should be one-twentieth of a resident’s permit,” argued Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We remove vehicles. We introduce cleaner models in their place.”

Lessons from Abroad

Other European countries offer models for London to follow. Germany enacted national car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a nationwide framework for parking, support and exemptions. Now, the country has several 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, particularly on the continent, is growing,” commented Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

Devanathan said authorities should start to treat car sharing as a form of public transport, and link it with train and bus stations. He added that one unnamed client was already seriously considering entering the London market: “Operators will fill this gap.”

What Comes Next?

The company’s competitors can be split 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. Peer-to-Peer Services: Which allow users to hire 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. “There is a void 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 establish themselves. In the meantime, more people may choose to buy cars, and others across London will be without a convenient option.

For the volunteers in Rotherhithe, the coming weeks will be a rush to find a way. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the wider implications of its departure on vital services and the prospects of shared mobility in the UK.