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A community kitchen in Rotherhithe has been delivering hundreds of cooked meals weekly for two years to elderly residents and needy locals in southeast London. Yet, the group's plans have been thrown into disarray by the news that they will not have access to New Year’s Day.

This organization had relied on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that customers to access its cars from the street. It caused shock across London when it declared it would cease its UK business from 1 January.

It will mean many helpers will be unable to 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 convenient access.

“The impact will be massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “Personally me and my team are worried about the operational hurdle we will face. A lot of people like ours will face difficulties.”

“Faced with this reality, they are all worried and thinking: ‘How will we continue?’”

A Major Blow for Urban Car-Sharing

The community kitchen’s drivers are part of over 500,000 people in London who were car club members, now potentially left without easy use to vehicles, avoiding the burden and cost of ownership. Most of those people were likely with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

The planned closure, pending consultation with employees, is a serious setback to the vision that vehicle clubs 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 Shared Mobility

Shared vehicle use is prized by many urbanists and environmentalists as a way of reducing the ills linked to vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit idle on the side of the road for the vast majority 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.

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 barely registered compared with its owner'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 “broader transformation across our global operations, where we are taking targeted actions to streamline operations, improve returns”.

Its latest financial reports noted revenues had fallen as drivers took less frequent, shorter trips. “These changes reflect the continuing effect of the cost-of-living crisis, which continues to suppress demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Hurdles

However, industry observers noted that London has particular issues that made it much harder for the company and its rivals to succeed.

• Inconsistent Rules: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a mosaic of varying processes and costs that made it harder.
• New Costs: The closure coincides with electric cars becoming liable for London’s congestion charge, adding extra expenses.
• Unequal Parking Fees: Residents in some boroughs pay just £63 for a annual electric car parking permit. A similar shared vehicle would pay over £1,100 per year, creating a major disincentive.

“We should literally be charged one-twentieth of a resident’s permit,” said Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We’re taking cars off the street. We introduce cleaner models in their place.”

Lessons from Abroad

Nations in Europe offer models for London to follow. Germany introduced national car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a nationwide framework for parking, subsidies 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 trails at 0.7.

“What we see is that car sharing around the world, particularly on the continent, is growing,” 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 already seriously considering entering the London market: “Operators will fill this gap.”

The Future Landscape

Other players can roughly be divided into two models:

1. Fleet Operators: Which own or lease their own cars. This includes 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.

Turo, a US-headquartered P2P service, 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 build momentum. For now, more people may choose to buy cars, and others across London will be without a convenient option.

For Rotherhithe community kitchen, the coming weeks will be a scramble to find a solution. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the broader impact of its departure on vital services and the prospects of shared mobility in the UK.