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The volunteer food project 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 face major disruption by the news that they will lose access to New Year’s Day.

The group had relied on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that allowed its cars from the street. It sent shockwaves through the capital when it declared it would shut down its UK business from 1 January.

It will mean many helpers cannot pick up supplies from a major food charity, which gathers surplus food from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Other options are less convenient, more expensive, or lack the same flexible hours.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “Personally me and my team are worried about the logistical challenge we will face. A lot of people like ours will face difficulties.”

“Knowing the reality, everyone is concerned and thinking: ‘How are we going to carry on?”

A Significant Setback for Urban Car-Sharing

The community kitchen’s drivers are part of 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 had a near-monopoly position in the city.

The planned closure, subject to consultation with employees, is a serious setback to hopes that car sharing in cities could cut the need for owning a car. Yet, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s exit need not mean the demise for the concept in Britain.

The Potential of Car Sharing

Shared vehicle use is valued by city planners and environmentalists as a way of mitigating the problems 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 involve large carbon emissions to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to use active travel and take public transport more. That benefits cities – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts public health through more exercise.

Understanding the Decline

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before its acquisition by the US car rental group Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK revenues were minimal compared with its owner's overall annual revenue, and a loss that grew to £11.7m in 2024 gave little incentive to continue.

The parent company stated the closure is part of a “wider restructuring across our global operations, where we are taking deliberate steps to simplify processes, improve returns”.

Its latest financial reports said revenues had fallen as drivers took less frequent, shorter trips. “These changes reflect the ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis, which continues to suppress demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

London's Unique Challenges

Yet, industry observers noted that London has particular issues that made it much harder for the company and its rivals to succeed.

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

“We should literally be charged one-twentieth of a private parking cost,” said Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We remove vehicles. We introduce cleaner models in their place.”

A European Example

Nations in Europe offer models for London to follow. Germany enacted national shared mobility laws in 2017, providing a unified system for parking, support 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.

“The evidence shows is that shared mobility around the world, particularly on the continent, is expanding,” commented Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

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

What Comes Next?

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

1. Fleet Operators: Which maintain their own cars. Examples Denmark’s GreenMobility, France’s Free2Move, and Germany’s Miles Mobility.
2. Person-to-Person Rentals: Which allow users to hire out their own vehicles via an app – a kind of Airbnb for cars. Examples 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 managing director, said there was a “big opportunity” 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 build momentum. In the meantime, more people may choose to buy cars, and many across London will be left without access.

For Rotherhithe community kitchen, the coming weeks will be a rush to find a way. The delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the broader impact of its departure on vital services and the future of shared mobility in the UK.