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A community kitchen in Rotherhithe has distributed hundreds of cooked meals weekly for the past two years to pensioners and needy locals in south London. Yet, their operations face major disruption by the announcement that they will lose access to New Year’s Day.

The group depended on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that allowed its cars from the street. It sent shockwaves through the capital when it said it would cease its UK operations from 1 January.

It will mean many volunteers will be unable to collect food from the Felix Project, that collects excess produce from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Other options are less convenient, costlier, or lack the same flexible hours.

“The impact will be massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the community kitchen’s founder. “My team and I are concerned by the logistical challenge we will face. Many groups like ours are going to struggle.”

“Knowing the reality, they are all worried and thinking: ‘How will we continue?’”

A Major Blow for City Vehicle Clubs

The community kitchen’s drivers are among over 500,000 people in London who were car club members, who could be left without easy use to vehicles, avoiding the burden and cost of ownership. Most of those people were probably with Zipcar, which had a near-monopoly position in the city.

This shutdown, subject to consultation with employees, is a big blow to the vision that car sharing in cities could reduce the need for owning a car. Yet, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s departure need not mean the demise for the idea in Britain.

The Potential of Car Sharing

Car sharing is prized by city planners and green advocates as a way of reducing the problems linked to vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit as two-tonne dead weights on the street for 95% of the time, using up space. They also involve large CO2 output to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to walk, cycle and take public transport more. That benefits cities – reducing congestion and pollution – and improves public health through increased activity.

What Went Wrong?

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before its acquisition by the American rental giant 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 no reason 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 noted revenues had declined as drivers took less frequent, shorter trips. “This trend reflect the ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis, which is dampening demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Hurdles

Yet, several experts noted that London has specific problems that made it difficult for the sector to succeed.

• Patchwork Policies: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a patchwork of different procedures and costs that made it harder.
• New Costs: The closure comes as electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding extra expenses.
• Parking Permit Disparity: 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 significant barrier.

“Our fees should be one-twentieth of a private parking cost,” argued Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We remove vehicles. 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 unified system for parking, subsidies 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 shared mobility around the world, especially in Europe, is expanding,” said Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

Devanathan said authorities should start to view vehicle clubs as a form of mass transit, and integrate 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

The company’s competitors can be split into two models:

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 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 peer-to-peer platform, 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.

However, it could take a while for other players to establish themselves. For now, more people may feel forced to buy cars, and others across London will be without a convenient option.

For the volunteers in Rotherhithe, the coming weeks will be a rush to find a solution. The delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the wider implications of its departure on community groups and the prospects of car-sharing in the UK.