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The volunteer food project in Rotherhithe has distributed hundreds of prepared dishes each week for two years to pensioners and vulnerable locals in southeast London. However, the group's plans face major disruption by the news that they will not have access to New Year’s Day.

This organization had relied on Zipcar, the app-based vehicle rental service that customers to access its fleet of vehicles from the street. It sent shockwaves across London when it declared it would shut down its UK business from 1 January.

This means many volunteers cannot pick up supplies from the Felix Project, which gathers surplus food from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Obvious alternatives are further away, costlier, or lack the same convenient access.

“It’s going to be affected massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “My team and I are worried about the operational hurdle 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 among over 500,000 people in London registered as car club members, who could be left without convenient access to vehicles, avoiding the burden and cost of ownership. Most of those people were likely 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 car sharing in urban areas could reduce the need for private vehicle ownership. However, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s exit need not mean the demise for the idea in Britain.

The Potential of Car Sharing

Shared vehicle use is valued by many urbanists and green advocates as a way of mitigating the ills associated with vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit idle on the side of the road for the vast majority of the time, occupying parking. They also require large carbon emissions to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to use active travel and take transit more. That benefits cities – easing congestion and pollution – and boosts public health through increased activity.

What Went Wrong?

Zipcar was founded in 2000 before its acquisition by the American rental giant Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK income barely registered compared with its parent company's overall annual revenue, and a deficit that reached £11.7m in 2024 gave no reason to continue.

The parent company stated the closure is part of a “broader transformation across our global operations, where we are taking targeted actions to simplify processes, enhance profitability”.

Its latest financial reports said revenues had fallen as drivers took less frequent, shorter trips. “These changes reflect the continuing effect of the cost-of-living crisis, which is dampening demand for discretionary spending,” it said.

The Capital's Specific Challenges

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

• Inconsistent Rules: Across 33 boroughs, car-club operators face a mosaic of different procedures and costs that complicate operations.
• 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 major disincentive.

“We should literally be charged one-twentieth of a resident’s permit,” said Robert Schopen of Co Wheels. “We’re taking cars off the street. We’re putting less polluting cars in their place.”

A European Example

Nations in Europe offer examples for London to follow. Germany introduced national car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a unified system for parking, support and exemptions. 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, particularly on the continent, is expanding,” commented Bharath Devanathan of Invers.

Devanathan said authorities should start to treat car sharing as a form of mass transit, and link it with train and bus stations. He added that a potential operator was already seriously considering entering the London market: “There will be fill this gap.”

The Future Landscape

The company’s competitors can roughly be divided into two camps:

1. Company-Owned Fleets: Which maintain their own cars. This includes 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 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.

However, it could take a while for other players to build momentum. For now, more people may feel forced 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 delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit highlights the wider implications of its departure on vital services and the future of shared mobility in the UK.