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The volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has distributed hundreds of prepared dishes weekly for the past two years to pensioners and vulnerable locals in south London. However, their operations have been thrown into disarray by the news that they will not have use of New Year’s Day.

This organization had relied on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that customers to access its cars via smartphone. It caused shock across London when it declared it would shut down 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. Other options are further away, more expensive, or lack 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 concerned by the logistical challenge we will face. Many groups like ours are going to struggle.”

“Faced with this reality, everyone is concerned and thinking: ‘How are we going to carry on?”

A Major Blow for City Vehicle Clubs

The community kitchen’s drivers are part of more than half a million people in London registered as car club members, now potentially left without convenient access to vehicles, avoiding the burden and cost of ownership. The vast majority of those people were probably with Zipcar, which had a near-monopoly position in the city.

The planned closure, pending consultation with staff, is a serious setback to hopes that car sharing in urban areas could reduce the need for private vehicle ownership. However, some experts also suggested that Zipcar’s exit need not mean the demise for the idea in Britain.

The Potential of Car Sharing

Shared vehicle use is prized by city planners and environmentalists as a way of reducing the problems associated with vehicle ownership. Most cars sit idle on the side of the road for 95% of the time, occupying parking. They also involve large carbon emissions to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to use active travel and take transit more. That helps urban areas – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts people’s health through increased activity.

Understanding the Decline

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

The parent company stated the closure is part of a “wider restructuring across our international business, where we are taking deliberate steps to streamline operations, improve returns”.

Zipcar’s most recent accounts said revenues had declined as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “This trend reflect the ongoing impact of the economic squeeze, which is dampening demand for non-essential services,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Hurdles

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

• Patchwork Policies: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a patchwork of varying processes and costs 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 as little as £63 for a year’s electric car parking permit. A floating car club would pay over £1,100 annually, creating a major disincentive.

“We should literally be charged one-twentieth of a resident’s permit,” 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 introduced national shared mobility laws in 2017, providing a nationwide framework for parking, subsidies 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 trails at 0.7.

“What we see is that car sharing around the world, especially in Europe, is expanding,” commented Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

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

What Comes Next?

Other players can be split into two camps:

1. Company-Owned Fleets: 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 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 “significant chance” 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 establish themselves. In the meantime, more people may feel forced to buy cars, and many across London will be left without access.

For the volunteers in Rotherhithe, the coming weeks will be a rush to find a solution. The delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the wider implications of its departure on community groups and the prospects of car-sharing in the UK.