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A community kitchen in Rotherhithe has distributed a large number of cooked meals weekly for two years to pensioners and needy locals in southeast London. Yet, their operations have been thrown into disarray by the news that they will lose access to New Year’s Day.

This organization depended on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that customers to access its cars from the street. The company caused shock through the capital when it declared it would cease its UK business from 1 January.

This means many helpers will be unable to pick up supplies from the Felix Project, which gathers surplus food from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Other options are less convenient, more expensive, or do not offer the same convenient access.

“The impact will be massively,” stated Vimal Pandya, the community kitchen’s founder. “Personally me and my team are worried about the operational hurdle we will face. A lot of people like ours are going to struggle.”

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

A Significant Setback for City Vehicle Clubs

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. Most of those members were probably with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

This shutdown, subject to consultation with employees, is a serious setback to hopes that car sharing in urban areas could cut the need for private vehicle ownership. However, some analysts also suggested that Zipcar’s departure need not mean the demise for the idea in Britain.

The Promise of Shared Mobility

Shared vehicle use is prized by city planners and environmentalists as a way of reducing the ills associated with 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 CO2 output to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to use active travel and take transit more. That helps urban areas – easing congestion and pollution – and boosts public health through more exercise.

What Went Wrong?

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before being bought by the US car rental group Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK revenues barely registered compared with its owner's overall annual revenue, and a loss that reached £11.7m in 2024 gave no reason to continue.

The parent company stated the closure is part of a “wider restructuring across our international business, where we are taking targeted actions to streamline operations, improve returns”.

Its latest financial reports noted revenues had declined as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “These changes reflect the continuing effect of the cost-of-living crisis, which continues to suppress demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

London's Unique Hurdles

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

• Patchwork Policies: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a mosaic of different procedures and costs that made it harder.
• New Costs: The closure comes as electric cars becoming liable for London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• Parking Permit Disparity: Residents in some boroughs pay just £63 for a year’s electric car parking permit. A floating car club would pay over £1,100 annually, creating a significant barrier.

“Our fees should be one-twentieth of a resident’s permit,” said Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We’re taking cars off the street. We introduce cleaner models in their place.”

Lessons from Abroad

Other European countries offer examples 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 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 shared mobility around the world, especially in Europe, is growing,” commented Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

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

What Comes Next?

Other players can be split into two models:

1. Fleet Operators: 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 hire 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. “There is a void 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. In the meantime, more people may feel forced to buy cars, and others across London will be left without access.

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