The community kitchen in Rotherhithe has provided a large number of cooked meals weekly for two years to pensioners and needy locals in southeast London. However, the group's plans have been thrown into disarray by the news that they will not have access to New Year’s Day.
This organization depended on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that customers to access its fleet of vehicles from the street. It caused shock through the capital when it said it would cease its UK operations from 1 January.
It will mean many helpers cannot pick up supplies from the Felix Project, which gathers surplus food from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Other options are further away, more expensive, or lack the same convenient access.
“It’s going to be affected massively,” stated Vimal Pandya, the project's founder. “My team and I are worried about the logistical challenge we will face. Many groups like ours will face difficulties.”
“Knowing the reality, they are all worried and thinking: ‘How are we going to carry on?”
A Significant Setback for City Vehicle Clubs
The community kitchen’s drivers are part of over 500,000 people in London registered as car club members, now potentially 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 employees, is a serious setback to the vision that vehicle clubs in cities could cut the need for owning a car. Yet, some analysts have noted that Zipcar’s exit need not mean the demise for the idea in Britain.
The Promise of Shared Mobility
Car sharing is valued by many urbanists and environmentalists as a way of reducing the ills linked to vehicle ownership. Most cars sit idle on the side of the road for 95% of the time, occupying parking. They also involve large CO2 output to produce, and people without a vehicle tend to use active travel and take transit more. That helps urban areas – easing congestion and pollution – and boosts public health through more exercise.
What Went Wrong?
Zipcar was founded in 2000 before being bought by the US car rental group Avis Budget in 2013. Zipcar’s UK revenues were minimal compared with its parent company's total earnings, and a deficit that grew to £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 targeted actions to simplify processes, improve returns”.
Zipcar’s most recent accounts noted 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 non-essential services,” it said.
London's Unique Hurdles
However, industry observers noted that London has specific problems that made it difficult for the sector to succeed.
- Patchwork Policies: With numerous local councils, car-club operators face a mosaic of different procedures and prices that complicate operations.
- Congestion Charge: The closure coincides with electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding unavoidable costs.
- Unequal Parking Fees: 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 annually, creating a significant barrier.
“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
Nations in Europe offer examples for London to follow. Germany introduced national car-sharing legislation in 2017, providing a nationwide framework for parking, support 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 lags behind at 0.7.
“What we see is that shared mobility around the world, especially in Europe, is expanding,” commented Bharath Devanathan of Invers.
He suggested authorities should start to treat car sharing as a form of mass transit, and link it with train and bus stations. He added that one unnamed client was looking at entering the London market: “Operators will fill this gap.”
What Comes Next?
The company’s competitors can be split into two camps:
- Fleet Operators: Which maintain their own cars. Examples Denmark’s GreenMobility, France’s Free2Move, and Germany’s Miles Mobility.
- Peer-to-Peer Services: Which allow users to rent out their own vehicles via an app – similar to 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 managing director, 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 establish themselves. For now, more people may feel forced to buy cars, and others across London will be without a convenient option.
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 wider implications of its departure on community groups and the future of car-sharing in the UK.
