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The community kitchen in Rotherhithe has distributed a large number of cooked meals weekly for two years to pensioners and vulnerable 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 had relied on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that customers to access its cars via smartphone. The company sent shockwaves across London when it said it would cease its UK operations from 1 January.

It will mean many helpers will be unable to collect food from the Felix Project, that collects surplus food from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Other options are less convenient, costlier, or lack the same flexible hours.

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

“Faced with this reality, they are all worried and thinking: ‘How are we going to carry on?”

A Major Blow for Urban Car-Sharing

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

The planned closure, pending consultation with staff, is a serious setback to hopes that car sharing in urban areas could cut the need for owning a car. Yet, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s exit need not spell the end for the concept in Britain.

The Promise of Car Sharing

Car sharing is prized by many urbanists and environmentalists as a way of reducing the ills linked to vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit as two-tonne dead weights on the side of the road for the vast majority of the time, using up space. They also require large carbon emissions to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to walk, cycle and take transit more. That helps urban areas – easing congestion and pollution – and boosts people’s health through more exercise.

Understanding the Decline

The company started 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 reached £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 streamline operations, improve returns”.

Its latest financial reports said revenues had fallen as drivers took less frequent, shorter trips. “This trend reflect the ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis, which continues to suppress 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.

• Patchwork Policies: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a mosaic of varying processes and costs that made it harder.
• Congestion Charge: The closure comes as electric cars becoming liable for London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• Parking Permit Disparity: Locals in some boroughs pay just £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 remove vehicles. We’re putting less polluting cars in their place.”

Lessons from Abroad

Other European countries 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.

“The evidence shows is that shared mobility around the world, especially in Europe, is growing,” commented 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 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 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.

One company, a US-headquartered peer-to-peer platform, is already weighing up the UK gap. Rory Brimmer, its UK managing director, 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 some time for other players to build momentum. In the meantime, more people may choose to buy cars, and others across London will be left without access.

For the volunteers in Rotherhithe, the coming weeks will be a scramble to find a way. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the broader impact of its departure on community groups and the prospects of car-sharing in the UK.