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The community kitchen in Rotherhithe has provided hundreds of cooked meals each week for two years to pensioners and needy locals in southeast London. Yet, 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 car-sharing company that allowed its fleet of vehicles via smartphone. The company sent shockwaves across London when it declared it would cease its UK operations from 1 January.

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

“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. A lot of people like ours are going to struggle.”

“Faced with this reality, everyone is concerned and thinking: ‘How are we going to carry on?”

A Significant Setback for City Vehicle Clubs

The community kitchen’s drivers are part of over 500,000 people in London registered as car club members, now potentially left without convenient access to vehicles, without the hassle and cost of ownership. Most of those members were likely with Zipcar, which had a near-monopoly position in the city.

The planned closure, subject to consultation with employees, is a big blow to the vision that car sharing in urban areas could cut the need for private vehicle ownership. Yet, some analysts also suggested that Zipcar’s exit need not mean the demise for the concept in Britain.

The Potential of Shared Mobility

Car sharing is prized by many urbanists and green advocates as a way of mitigating the ills linked to vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit idle on the side of the road for the vast majority of the time, occupying parking. They also involve large CO2 output to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to walk, cycle and take transit more. That helps urban areas – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts people’s health through increased activity.

Understanding the Decline

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 parent company's total earnings, and a deficit that grew to £11.7m in 2024 gave little incentive to continue.

Avis Budget has said the closure is part of a “broader transformation across our international business, where we are taking deliberate steps to simplify processes, enhance profitability”.

Its latest financial reports said revenues had declined as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “This trend reflect the continuing effect of the economic squeeze, which is dampening demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Hurdles

Yet, several experts noted that London has particular issues that made it difficult for the company and its rivals to succeed.

• Inconsistent Rules: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a patchwork of different procedures and costs that complicate operations.
• Congestion Charge: The closure coincides with electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• Unequal Parking Fees: 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’re taking cars off the street. We’re putting less polluting cars 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 waivers. Now, the country has several 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 growing,” said Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

He suggested authorities should start to treat car sharing as a form of public transport, and link it with train and bus stations. He added that a potential operator was looking at entering the London market: “There will be fill this gap.”

The Future Landscape

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

1. Company-Owned Fleets: Which maintain their own cars. This includes 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 – similar to Airbnb for cars. Players include Britain’s Hiyacar and the US’s Getaround and Turo.

One company, a US-headquartered peer-to-peer platform, is assessing 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.

However, it could take some time 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 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 vital services and the prospects of shared mobility in the UK.