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A volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has provided a large number of prepared dishes weekly for two years to pensioners and vulnerable locals in southeast London. However, their operations face major disruption by the news that they will not have access to New Year’s Day.

This organization depended on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that allowed its cars from the street. The company caused shock through the capital when it said it would cease its UK business from 1 January.

This means many volunteers cannot collect food from the Felix Project, that collects surplus food from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are further away, more expensive, or lack the same flexible hours.

“The impact will be massively,” stated Vimal Pandya, the community kitchen’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, they are all worried and thinking: ‘How will we continue?’”

A Significant Setback for Urban Car-Sharing

The community kitchen’s drivers are among more than half a million 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 had a near-monopoly position in the city.

This shutdown, subject to consultation with staff, is a big blow to the vision that vehicle clubs in urban areas could cut the need for private vehicle ownership. However, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s exit need not mean the demise for the idea in Britain.

The Promise of Shared Mobility

Car sharing is prized by city planners and environmentalists as a way of reducing the ills associated with vehicle ownership. Most cars sit idle on the street for the vast majority of the time, occupying parking. They also involve large CO2 output to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to use active travel and take transit more. That benefits cities – easing congestion and pollution – and improves public health through increased activity.

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 reached £11.7m in 2024 gave little incentive to continue.

The parent company stated the closure is part of a “broader transformation across our international business, where we are taking deliberate steps to streamline operations, improve returns”.

Zipcar’s most recent accounts noted revenues had declined as drivers took less frequent, shorter trips. “These changes reflect the continuing effect of the cost-of-living crisis, which is dampening demand for non-essential services,” it said.

London's Unique Challenges

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

• Inconsistent Rules: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a mosaic of varying processes and prices that complicate operations.
• Congestion Charge: The closure comes as electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• Parking Permit Disparity: Locals 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 significant barrier.

“Our fees should be one-twentieth of a private parking cost,” argued 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 shared mobility laws in 2017, providing a nationwide framework for parking, subsidies 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.

“What we see is that car sharing around the world, especially in Europe, is expanding,” commented Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

Devanathan said 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: “There will be fill this gap.”

The Future Landscape

The company’s competitors can roughly be divided 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. Examples Britain’s Hiyacar and the US’s Getaround and Turo.

One company, a US-headquartered P2P service, is already weighing up 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 some time 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 the volunteers in Rotherhithe, the coming weeks will be a rush to find a way. The delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the broader impact of its departure on community groups and the prospects of car-sharing in the UK.