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The volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has been delivering a large number of cooked meals weekly for the past two years to elderly residents and vulnerable locals in south London. However, the group's plans face major disruption by the news that they will lose cars and vans on New Year’s Day.

This organization had relied on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that allowed its cars via smartphone. It caused shock across London when it declared it would shut down its UK business from 1 January.

It will mean many helpers cannot collect food from a major food charity, which gathers surplus food from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Other options are less convenient, more expensive, or lack 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.”

“Faced with this reality, everyone is concerned and thinking: ‘How will we continue?’”

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. Most of those members were likely with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

The planned closure, pending consultation with employees, is a serious setback to hopes that vehicle clubs in urban areas could reduce the need for owning a car. However, some experts also suggested that Zipcar’s departure need not spell the end for the idea in Britain.

The Potential of Shared Mobility

Shared vehicle use is valued by city planners and environmentalists as a way of mitigating the ills linked to 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 who do not own cars tend to use active travel and take transit more. That benefits cities – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts public health through more exercise.

What Went Wrong?

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before its acquisition by the US car rental group Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK revenues were minimal compared with its owner's overall annual revenue, and a loss that reached £11.7m in 2024 gave little incentive to continue.

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

Its latest financial reports said revenues had declined as drivers took less frequent, shorter trips. “These changes reflect the continuing effect of the economic squeeze, which continues to suppress demand for non-essential services,” it said.

London's Unique Challenges

However, several experts noted that London has specific problems that made it difficult for the sector to succeed.

• Patchwork Policies: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a patchwork of different procedures and prices that made it harder.
• New Costs: The closure coincides with electric cars becoming liable for London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• Parking Permit Disparity: Locals in some boroughs pay just £63 for a year’s electric car parking permit. A similar shared vehicle would pay over £1,100 annually, creating a significant barrier.

“We should literally be charged one-twentieth of a resident’s permit,” argued Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We’re taking cars off the street. We’re putting less polluting cars in their place.”

A European Example

Other European countries offer examples for London to follow. Germany enacted national car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a nationwide framework 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 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 public transport, and link it with train and bus stations. He added that one unnamed client was looking at entering the London market: “There will be fill this gap.”

The Future Landscape

Other players can be split into two models:

1. Company-Owned Fleets: Which own or lease their own cars. Examples 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 – a kind of 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 managing director, 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 some time for other players to build momentum. In the meantime, more people may feel forced to buy cars, and others across London will be left without access.

For the volunteers in Rotherhithe, the coming weeks will be a scramble to find a way. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the wider implications of its departure on community groups and the future of car-sharing in the UK.