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A community kitchen in Rotherhithe has distributed hundreds of prepared dishes weekly for the past two years to elderly residents and needy locals in south London. However, their operations have been thrown into disarray by the announcement that they will not have cars and vans on New Year’s Day.

The group depended on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that allowed its cars via smartphone. It caused shock across London when it said it would cease its UK operations from 1 January.

This means many volunteers cannot collect food from a major food charity, that collects excess produce from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Other options are less convenient, costlier, or do not offer the same flexible hours.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” stated Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “My team and I are concerned by the operational hurdle we will face. Many groups like ours will face difficulties.”

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

A Major Blow 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, avoiding the burden and cost of ownership. Most of those members were likely with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

The planned closure, subject to consultation with staff, is a big blow to the vision that car sharing in urban areas could reduce the need for private vehicle ownership. Yet, some analysts also suggested that Zipcar’s departure need not mean the demise for the idea in Britain.

The Promise of Car Sharing

Shared vehicle use is valued by many urbanists and environmentalists as a way of reducing the problems associated with vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit as two-tonne dead weights on the street for 95% of the time, occupying parking. They also require large carbon emissions to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to walk, cycle and take public transport more. That helps urban areas – easing congestion and pollution – and improves people’s health through increased activity.

What Went Wrong?

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before being bought by the American rental giant Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK revenues barely registered compared with its parent company's overall annual revenue, and a loss that grew to £11.7m in 2024 gave no reason 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, improve returns”.

Zipcar’s most recent accounts said revenues had fallen 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.

London's Unique Hurdles

Yet, 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 unavoidable costs.
• Parking Permit Disparity: Residents 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 introduce cleaner models in their place.”

Lessons from Abroad

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 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, especially in Europe, is expanding,” said Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

Devanathan said authorities should start to treat car sharing as a form of public transport, and integrate 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?

Other players can be split into two models:

1. Fleet Operators: 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 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 managing director, 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. For now, more people may choose to buy cars, and others across London will be left without access.

For Rotherhithe community kitchen, the coming weeks will be a scramble to find a way. The delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the broader impact of its departure on vital services and the prospects of car-sharing in the UK.