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The community kitchen in Rotherhithe has provided a large number of prepared dishes each week for the past two years to elderly residents and vulnerable locals in south London. However, their operations face major disruption by the announcement that they will not have use of New Year’s Day.

The group had relied on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that allowed its fleet of vehicles via smartphone. It caused shock through the capital when it said it would cease its UK business from 1 January.

It will mean many helpers will be unable to collect food from a major food charity, which gathers excess produce from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are less convenient, costlier, or lack the same convenient access.

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

“Faced with this reality, they are all worried and thinking: ‘How will we continue?’”

A Significant Setback for City Vehicle Clubs

These volunteers are part of more than half a million people in London registered as car club members, now potentially left without easy use to vehicles, avoiding the burden and cost of ownership. The vast majority of those people were likely with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

This shutdown, pending consultation with employees, is a serious setback to hopes that vehicle clubs in urban areas could cut the need for private vehicle ownership. However, some experts also suggested that Zipcar’s exit need not spell the end for the idea in Britain.

The Promise of Shared Mobility

Shared vehicle use is valued by many urbanists and environmentalists as a way of mitigating the problems associated with vehicle ownership. Most cars 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 carbon emissions to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to use active travel and take public transport more. That helps urban areas – easing congestion and pollution – and boosts public health through increased activity.

Understanding the Decline

The company started in 2000 before being bought 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 international business, where we are taking targeted actions to simplify processes, enhance profitability”.

Its latest financial reports said revenues had fallen as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “These changes reflect the continuing effect of the economic squeeze, which continues to suppress demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

London's Unique Challenges

However, several experts noted that London has particular issues that made it much harder for the sector to succeed.

• Patchwork Policies: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a mosaic of varying processes and costs 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 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,” argued 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 car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a nationwide framework 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, particularly on the continent, is expanding,” said Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

He suggested authorities should start to view vehicle clubs as a form of public transport, and integrate it with train and bus stations. He added that a potential operator was already seriously considering entering the London market: “Operators will 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. 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 – 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. “There is a void that is going to need to be filled, because London still needs to move,” Brimmer said.

However, it could take a while for other players to establish themselves. For now, more people may feel forced to buy cars, and others across London will be without a convenient option.

For Rotherhithe community kitchen, the next month will be a rush to find a solution. The logistical challenge caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the wider implications of its departure on vital services and the prospects of shared mobility in the UK.