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A volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has provided a large number of cooked meals each week for two years to pensioners and needy locals in southeast London. However, their operations face major disruption by the announcement that they will not have access to New Year’s Day.

This organization had relied on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that customers to access its fleet of vehicles via smartphone. It sent shockwaves across London when it declared it would shut down its UK operations from 1 January.

This means many helpers cannot pick up supplies from the Felix Project, which gathers surplus food from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Other options are less convenient, more expensive, or do not offer the same flexible hours.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” stated Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “Personally me and my team are worried about the logistical challenge we will face. Many groups like ours are going to struggle.”

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

A Significant Setback for Urban Car-Sharing

The community kitchen’s drivers are part of over 500,000 people in London who were car club members, now potentially left without convenient access to vehicles, without the hassle and cost of ownership. The vast majority of those people were likely 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 urban areas could cut the need for owning a car. However, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s departure need not spell the end for the idea in Britain.

The Potential of Shared Mobility

Car sharing is prized by city planners 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 the vast majority of the time, occupying parking. They also require large carbon emissions to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to use active travel and take transit more. That benefits cities – easing congestion and pollution – and boosts public 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 barely registered compared with its parent company's total earnings, and a deficit that reached £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 streamline operations, enhance profitability”.

Zipcar’s most recent accounts noted revenues had fallen as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “These changes reflect the continuing effect of the economic squeeze, which is dampening demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Hurdles

However, industry observers noted that London has specific problems 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 becoming liable for London’s congestion charge, adding extra expenses.
• Unequal Parking Fees: 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 annually, creating a major disincentive.

“Our fees should be one-twentieth of a private parking cost,” said Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We remove vehicles. We’re putting less polluting cars in their place.”

A European Example

Other European countries offer examples for London to follow. Germany enacted national shared mobility laws in 2017, providing a nationwide framework for parking, subsidies and waivers. 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.

“The evidence shows is that car sharing around the world, particularly on the continent, is expanding,” commented Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

Devanathan said authorities should start to treat car sharing as a form of public transport, and link it with train and bus stations. He added that one unnamed client was looking at entering the London market: “Operators will fill this gap.”

The Future Landscape

Other players can roughly be divided 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. Peer-to-Peer Services: Which allow users to rent out their own vehicles via an app – similar to Airbnb for cars. Examples Britain’s Hiyacar and the US’s Getaround and Turo.

Turo, a US-headquartered P2P service, is already weighing up the UK gap. Rory Brimmer, its UK head, 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 establish themselves. 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 scramble to find a way. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the wider implications of its departure on vital services and the prospects of shared mobility in the UK.