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A community kitchen in Rotherhithe has been delivering a large number of cooked meals each week for the past two years to pensioners and needy locals in south London. However, their operations have been thrown into disarray by the news that they will not have cars and vans on New Year’s Day.

The group had relied on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that customers to access its cars via smartphone. It sent shockwaves across London when it declared it would cease its UK operations from 1 January.

This means many volunteers will be unable to collect food from a major food charity, that collects excess produce from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Other options are further away, costlier, or do not offer the same convenient access.

“The impact will be massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “My team and I are concerned by the logistical challenge we will face. A lot of people like ours will face difficulties.”

“Knowing the reality, everyone is concerned and thinking: ‘How are we going to carry on?”

A Major Blow for City Vehicle Clubs

These volunteers are among more than half a million people in London who were car club members, who could be left without easy use to vehicles, without the hassle 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 staff, is a big blow to hopes that car sharing in urban areas could cut the need for private vehicle ownership. Yet, some analysts also suggested that Zipcar’s exit need not mean the demise for the concept in Britain.

The Potential of Car Sharing

Car sharing is prized by many urbanists and environmentalists as a way of reducing the ills linked to vehicle ownership. Most cars sit idle on the side of the road for 95% of the time, occupying parking. They also require large carbon emissions to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to walk, cycle and take transit more. That benefits cities – easing congestion and pollution – and improves people’s health through more exercise.

What Went Wrong?

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before being bought by the US car rental group Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK income barely registered compared with its owner's total earnings, and a deficit that grew to £11.7m in 2024 gave little incentive to continue.

Avis Budget has said the closure is part of a “broader transformation 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 fewer and shorter trips. “This trend reflect the ongoing impact of the economic squeeze, which continues to suppress demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

London's Unique Hurdles

However, several experts noted that London has particular issues that made it much harder for the sector to succeed.

• Inconsistent Rules: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a patchwork 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 unavoidable costs.
• Parking Permit Disparity: Residents 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 major disincentive.

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

Lessons from Abroad

Nations in Europe offer models for London to follow. Germany enacted national shared mobility laws 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 lags behind at 0.7.

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

Devanathan said authorities should start to treat car sharing as a form of mass transit, 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 camps:

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 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 P2P service, is assessing the UK gap. Rory Brimmer, its UK head, said there was a “significant chance” 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 many across London will be without a convenient option.

For the volunteers in Rotherhithe, the next month will be a rush to find a way. The delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit underscores the broader impact of its departure on community groups and the prospects of car-sharing in the UK.