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The volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has distributed a large number of prepared dishes each week for the past two years to pensioners and needy locals in south London. However, the group's plans face major disruption by the news that they will lose cars and vans on 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 caused shock through the capital when it said it would cease its UK operations from 1 January.

This means many helpers will be unable to collect food from a major food charity, that collects excess produce from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are less convenient, more expensive, or lack the same flexible hours.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” stated Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “My team and I are concerned by the operational hurdle we will face. A lot of people like ours will face difficulties.”

“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 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 members were likely with Zipcar, which had a near-monopoly position in the city.

The planned closure, pending consultation with staff, is a serious setback to the vision that car sharing in cities could cut the need for private vehicle ownership. However, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s exit need not spell the end for the idea in Britain.

The Potential of Car Sharing

Car sharing is valued by city planners and green advocates as a way of reducing the ills 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 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 improves people’s health through increased activity.

Understanding the Decline

The company started in 2000 before its acquisition by the American rental giant Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK revenues were minimal compared with its owner's overall annual revenue, and a deficit that reached £11.7m in 2024 gave little incentive to continue.

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

Zipcar’s most recent accounts 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.

London's Unique Challenges

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

• Inconsistent Rules: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a patchwork of varying processes and costs that complicate operations.
• New Costs: The closure comes as electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
• Unequal Parking Fees: Locals in some boroughs pay just £63 for a annual 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 resident’s permit,” said Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We remove vehicles. We introduce cleaner models in their place.”

A European Example

Other European countries offer models for London to follow. Germany introduced national shared mobility laws in 2017, providing a unified system for parking, support 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 trails at 0.7.

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

Devanathan said authorities should start to view vehicle clubs as a form of public transport, and integrate it with train and bus stations. He added that one unnamed client was already seriously considering entering the London market: “There will be 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 rent out their own vehicles via an app – a kind of Airbnb for cars. Players include Britain’s Hiyacar and the US’s Getaround and Turo.

Turo, a US-headquartered peer-to-peer platform, 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 some time for other players to build momentum. 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 rush to find a solution. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit underscores the broader impact of its departure on community groups and the prospects of shared mobility in the UK.