🔗 Share this article

A community kitchen in Rotherhithe has been delivering a large number of cooked meals each week for two years to pensioners and vulnerable locals in south London. Yet, the group's plans face major disruption by the announcement that they will not have access to New Year’s Day.

The group had relied on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that customers to access its cars via smartphone. The company caused shock through the capital when it said it would shut down its UK business from 1 January.

It will mean many helpers cannot collect food from a major food charity, that collects surplus food from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are less convenient, more expensive, or lack the same convenient access.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” stated Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “Personally me and my team are concerned by the operational hurdle we will face. A lot of people like ours are going to struggle.”

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

A Major Blow for City Vehicle Clubs

The community kitchen’s drivers are part of over 500,000 people in London registered as car club members, who could be left without convenient access 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 serious setback to hopes that vehicle clubs in urban areas could cut the need for private vehicle ownership. Yet, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s exit need not mean the demise for the concept in Britain.

The Promise of Shared Mobility

Shared vehicle use is prized by many urbanists and green advocates as a way of mitigating the problems associated with vehicle ownership. Most cars sit idle on the street for the vast majority of the time, occupying parking. They also involve large carbon emissions to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to use active travel and take public transport more. That helps urban areas – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts public health through more exercise.

What Went Wrong?

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before its acquisition by the American rental giant Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK revenues were minimal 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 deliberate steps to simplify processes, enhance profitability”.

Zipcar’s most recent accounts said revenues had fallen as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “This trend reflect the ongoing impact of the economic squeeze, which is dampening demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

London's Unique Challenges

Yet, industry observers noted that London has particular issues that made it much harder for the sector to succeed.

• Patchwork Policies: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a patchwork of varying processes and prices that made it harder.
• New Costs: The closure comes as electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• Unequal Parking Fees: Residents in some boroughs pay as little as £63 for a year’s 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 introduce cleaner models in their place.”

Lessons from Abroad

Nations in Europe offer examples for London to follow. Germany introduced national shared mobility laws in 2017, providing a unified system for parking, support 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 shared mobility around the world, especially in Europe, is growing,” said Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

He suggested authorities should start to treat car sharing as a form of mass transit, and link it with train and bus stations. He added that one unnamed client was already seriously considering entering the London market: “There will be fill this gap.”

What Comes Next?

Other players can be split 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. 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.

Turo, a US-headquartered peer-to-peer platform, is assessing the UK gap. Rory Brimmer, its UK managing director, 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.

However, it could take some time for other players to establish themselves. In the meantime, 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 rush to find a way. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the broader impact of its departure on community groups and the future of car-sharing in the UK.