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Less than half of London households own a car – which is why it’s useful for Londoners to have access to car sharing services like Zipcar. In bad news for anyone that uses the service regularly, Zipcar is officially cancelling all its services in the capital – and the UK – very soon. Londoners will have to rely on Uber or other rental services from now on.
If you haven’t used a Zipcar before, it’s essentially like the Lime bike of four-wheeled vehicles. Cars and vans can be rented off the street for between £6 and £15/hour including fuel, insurance and breakdown cover, all unlocked through a phone app. Users are charged for their time used.
Zipcar, which is owned by US car rental group Avis Budget, has announced it will withdraw all of its vehicles from the capital by the end of December. The end of Zipcar coincides with the introduction of a new £13.50 daily congestion charge on electric vehicles, which begins on 2 January 2026. In November London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the congestion charge would increase in 2026 for the first time since 2020.
The heightened levy appears to be the final nail in the coffin for Zipcar, which already finds itself in a tricky financial situation thanks to decreasing levels of travel, the cost of living crisis, and competition from services like Uber and Lime.
Another problem for Zipcar, as reported by London Centric, is that the Mayor of London doesn’t have the central powers to create a city-wide contract with the company. Instead contracts have to be negotiated on a borough-by-borough basis, making it hard to keep track of the service’s financial sustainability,
A spokesperson for Sadiq Khan said: ‘The Mayor’s Transport Strategy is clear on the important role car clubs can play to reduce the need for private car ownership. This is why the Mayor recently announced that electric car clubs with a dedicated parking bay in the Congestion Charge Zone will receive a 100 percent discount on the Congestion Charge from January.’
An Avis Budget Group spokesperson said: ‘Today (Dec 1), Zipcar informed UK members that we are proposing to cease Zipcar’s operations in the UK and have begun the required formal consultation with our UK employees.
‘This proposal is part of a broader transformation across our international business, where we are taking deliberate steps to streamline operations, improve returns, and position the company for long-term sustainability and growth.
‘As part of this proposal, new bookings in the UK will be suspended beyond 31 December 2025, subject to the outcome of the consultation. Zipcar UK will continue to operate as usual during this period. All other markets remain fully operational and unaffected.’
All the Oxford Street bus routes that will be impacted by the road going car-free.
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