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The community kitchen in Rotherhithe has distributed hundreds of cooked meals each week for two years to pensioners and needy locals in southeast London. However, the group's plans have been thrown into disarray by the news 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 from the street. The company sent shockwaves through the capital when it said it would cease its UK business from 1 January.

It will mean many volunteers cannot collect food from a major food charity, which gathers excess produce from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Other options 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 logistical challenge we will face. Many groups like ours will face difficulties.”

“Knowing the reality, everyone is concerned and thinking: ‘How will we continue?’”

A Significant Setback for City Vehicle Clubs

The community kitchen’s drivers are among more than half a million people in London registered as 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 likely with Zipcar, which had a near-monopoly position in the city.

The planned closure, subject to consultation with employees, is a serious setback to the vision that vehicle clubs in urban areas could reduce the need for owning a car. However, some experts also suggested that Zipcar’s exit need not mean the demise for the idea in Britain.

The Promise of Car Sharing

Shared vehicle use is prized by many urbanists and green advocates as a way of reducing the problems linked to vehicle ownership. Most cars sit as two-tonne dead weights on the side of the road for 95% of the time, occupying parking. They also require large CO2 output to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to walk, cycle and take transit more. That benefits cities – reducing congestion and pollution – and improves people’s health through increased activity.

What Went Wrong?

The company started in 2000 before being bought by the American rental giant Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK revenues were minimal compared with its owner's total earnings, 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 international business, where we are taking targeted actions to simplify processes, improve returns”.

Its latest financial reports noted revenues had declined as drivers took less frequent, shorter trips. “This trend reflect the continuing effect of the economic squeeze, which is dampening demand for non-essential services,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Challenges

Yet, several experts noted that London has specific problems that made it much harder for the company and its rivals to succeed.

• Patchwork Policies: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a patchwork of different procedures and costs that complicate operations.
• Congestion Charge: The closure coincides with electric cars becoming liable for 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 annually, creating a significant barrier.

“We should literally be charged one-twentieth of a private parking cost,” argued Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We’re taking cars off the street. We’re putting less polluting cars in their place.”

A European Example

Nations in Europe offer models for London to follow. Germany enacted national car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a nationwide framework for parking, support and exemptions. Now, the country has 5.4 shared cars per 10,000 people, while France has 2.1 and Belgium has 6.3. The UK lags behind at 0.7.

“What we see 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 link 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.”

The Future Landscape

Other players can be split into two camps:

1. Company-Owned Fleets: Which maintain 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 – a kind of 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. “A space exists that is going to need to be filled, because London still needs to move,” Brimmer said.

Yet, it could take a while for other players to build momentum. For now, more people may feel forced to buy cars, and many 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 underscores the wider implications of its departure on community groups and the future of shared mobility in the UK.