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The volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has provided a large number of prepared dishes each week for the past two years to elderly residents and vulnerable locals in south London. Yet, the group's plans have been thrown into disarray by the announcement that they will lose use of New Year’s Day.

This organization depended on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that customers to access its fleet of vehicles via smartphone. The company sent shockwaves across London when it said it would cease its UK business from 1 January.

It will mean many volunteers cannot pick up supplies from the Felix Project, which gathers surplus food from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are further away, more expensive, or do not offer the same flexible hours.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” stated Vimal Pandya, the community kitchen’s founder. “My team and I are worried about the logistical challenge we will face. Many groups like ours are going to struggle.”

“Faced with this reality, they are all worried and thinking: ‘How are we going to carry on?”

A Major Blow for City Vehicle Clubs

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, 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.

This shutdown, pending consultation with employees, is a big blow to the vision that car sharing in urban areas could reduce the need for owning a car. However, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s departure need not spell the end for the concept in Britain.

The Potential of Shared Mobility

Shared vehicle use is prized by many urbanists and green advocates as a way of mitigating the ills associated with vehicle ownership. Most cars sit as two-tonne dead weights on the side of the road for the vast majority of the time, using up space. They also involve large CO2 output to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to use active travel and take public transport more. That benefits cities – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts people’s health through more exercise.

What Went Wrong?

The company started in 2000 before being bought 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 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 targeted actions to simplify processes, enhance profitability”.

Its latest financial reports noted revenues had declined as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “This trend reflect the continuing effect of the cost-of-living crisis, which continues to suppress demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Challenges

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

• Inconsistent Rules: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a patchwork of different procedures and prices that made it harder.
• Congestion Charge: The closure comes as electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding extra expenses.
• Unequal Parking Fees: Locals in some boroughs pay as little as £63 for a annual electric car parking permit. A similar shared vehicle would pay over £1,100 per year, creating a significant barrier.

“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 introduced national car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a unified system 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.

“The evidence shows is that car sharing around the world, especially in Europe, is expanding,” said Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

He suggested authorities should start to view vehicle clubs as a form of mass transit, and integrate it with train and bus stations. He added that a potential operator was looking at entering the London market: “There will be fill this gap.”

The Future Landscape

Other players can roughly be divided 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. 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. “A space exists that is going to need to be filled, because London still needs to move,” Brimmer said.

However, it could take some time for other players to build momentum. For now, more people may feel forced 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 highlights the broader impact of its departure on community groups and the prospects of shared mobility in the UK.