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The volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has been delivering hundreds of cooked meals weekly for two years to elderly residents and vulnerable locals in south London. However, their operations have been thrown into disarray by the announcement that they will not have access to New Year’s Day.

The group depended on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that allowed its cars via smartphone. The company caused shock across London when it said it would cease its UK business from 1 January.

This means many volunteers cannot collect food from a major food charity, which gathers surplus food from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are further away, more expensive, or do not offer 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, 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 more than half a million people in London registered as car club members, who could be left without easy use to vehicles, without the hassle and cost of ownership. The vast majority of those people were probably with Zipcar, which had a near-monopoly position in the city.

This shutdown, pending consultation with staff, is a big blow to the vision that vehicle clubs in cities could reduce 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

Shared vehicle use is valued by city planners and green advocates as a way of mitigating the problems linked to vehicle ownership. Most cars sit idle on the street for the vast majority of the time, occupying parking. They also involve large CO2 output to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to walk, cycle and take public transport more. That helps urban areas – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts public health through increased activity.

Understanding the Decline

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before being bought by the American rental giant Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK income were minimal compared with its parent company's total earnings, and a loss that grew to £11.7m in 2024 gave no reason to continue.

Avis Budget has said the closure is part of a “wider restructuring across our global operations, where we are taking targeted actions to streamline operations, improve returns”.

Zipcar’s most recent accounts said 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 non-essential services,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Challenges

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

• Inconsistent Rules: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a patchwork of different procedures and prices that made it harder.
• Congestion Charge: The closure coincides with electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding extra expenses.
• Parking Permit Disparity: Residents in some boroughs pay as little as £63 for a year’s electric car parking permit. A floating car club would pay over £1,100 per year, creating a major disincentive.

“Our fees should be 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.”

A European Example

Nations in Europe offer examples 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 trails at 0.7.

“What we see is that car sharing 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 public transport, and link it with train and bus stations. He added that one unnamed client was already seriously considering entering the London market: “Operators will fill this gap.”

The Future Landscape

The company’s competitors can roughly be divided 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. Person-to-Person Rentals: 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 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.

However, it could take some time for other players to establish themselves. For now, 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 solution. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the wider implications of its departure on vital services and the future of car-sharing in the UK.