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The community kitchen in Rotherhithe has distributed a large number of prepared dishes weekly for two years to pensioners and needy locals in southeast London. However, the group's plans have been thrown into disarray by the announcement that they will not have access to New Year’s Day.

The group depended on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that customers to access its fleet of vehicles from the street. The company sent shockwaves across London when it said it would shut down its UK operations from 1 January.

This means many helpers cannot pick up supplies from the Felix Project, that collects surplus food from grocery stores, cafes and restaurants. Other options are further away, more expensive, or lack the same convenient access.

“The impact will be massively,” said Vimal Pandya, the community kitchen’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, 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 among over 500,000 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 members were probably with Zipcar, which held a dominant position in the city.

The planned closure, pending consultation with staff, is a serious setback to hopes that car sharing in urban areas could reduce the need for owning a car. However, some experts have noted that Zipcar’s departure need not spell the end for the idea in Britain.

The Promise of Shared Mobility

Shared vehicle use is prized by many urbanists and environmentalists as a way of mitigating the problems linked to vehicle ownership. Typically, vehicles sit idle on the side of the road for 95% of the time, occupying parking. They also require large CO2 output to produce, and people who do not own cars tend to use active travel and take transit more. That helps urban areas – reducing congestion and pollution – and boosts public health through more exercise.

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 parent company'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 international business, where we are taking deliberate steps to simplify processes, enhance profitability”.

Zipcar’s most recent accounts noted revenues had fallen as drivers took fewer and shorter trips. “This trend reflect the ongoing impact of the economic squeeze, which continues to suppress demand for non-essential services,” it said.

London's Unique Challenges

Yet, 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 different procedures and costs that complicate operations.
• New Costs: The closure coincides with electric cars start paying London’s congestion charge, adding extra expenses.
• Parking Permit Disparity: Locals in some boroughs pay just £63 for a annual electric car parking permit. A floating car club would pay over £1,100 per year, creating a significant barrier.

“Our fees should be one-twentieth of a resident’s permit,” argued 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 models for London to follow. Germany enacted national shared mobility laws 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, especially in Europe, is expanding,” said 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 one unnamed client was looking at entering the London market: “Operators will fill this gap.”

The Future Landscape

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

1. Fleet Operators: Which own or lease their own cars. Examples 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 – a kind of Airbnb for cars. Examples Britain’s Hiyacar and the US’s Getaround and Turo.

Turo, a US-headquartered P2P service, 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 some time for other players to build momentum. For now, more people may feel forced to buy cars, and many across London will be left without access.

For Rotherhithe community kitchen, the next month will be a scramble to find a solution. The delivery problem caused by Zipcar’s exit underscores the wider implications of its departure on community groups and the prospects of shared mobility in the UK.