With many car-sharing companies considering launching or expanding in London, the imminent closure of Zipcar’s UK operations will leave a huge gap in the market in one of Europe’s largest cities.
Free2Move, owned by carmaker Stellantis, said it was “closely monitoring the London market”, and was “actively assessing” options for its services. It already operates fleets in cities including Berlin, Paris, Rome and Washington DC.
Enterprise Car Club, which already has some cars in London, said it would “continue to look for opportunities to expand its network and provide people with alternative transport options by the hour or day”.
Co Wheels, which operates across Britain and has a handful of cars in the capital, said it was “actively discussing” options with several London boroughs in recent days.
Peer-to-peer car-sharing companies HiCar and Turo also said they expect to expand the number of car owners using their platforms in London.
Zipcar last week announced plans to close its UK operations at the end of the year, shocking supporters of car sharing and its nearly half million users.
London is seen as one of the most promising cities in Europe for car sharing because it has a large population that relies on public transport rather than their own cars to get around.
However, experts have said that the fragmented nature of licensing and parking prices across London’s 33 local authorities has been a major obstacle for car clubs. For example, Zipcar’s floating cars, which have no fixed parking spaces, were not allowed to park in areas other than the central area of Camden and the City of London.
Free2Move suggested that his interest was not at a developed level, but that he might consider the city. Free2Move operates a fleet of floating vehicles that can be accessed through its app.
It added: “London is one of the most advanced cities in Europe when it comes to readiness for autonomous mobility, which makes it a particularly attractive market for us.
“Free2move is taking a long-term approach, focused on autonomous and fully digital mobility solutions, and we are actively assessing how our experience in car sharing and fleet operations can evolve to support a city like London in the future.”
Launching a new car club fleet will require significant investment in vehicles, and will likely take some time for Free2Move or a competitor. Any plans to launch Free2Move in London could be complicated if the owner of car brands including Peugeot, Vauxhall and Fiat decides to sell the Stellantis business, Bloomberg reported in October.
Peer-to-peer companies have a less difficult time financially, as they connect existing owners of vehicles with potential renters, without having to spend heavily on a fleet of cars. HiCar and Turo already operate in London, and both said they sought the opportunity to expand and convince more owners to list their cars.
HiCar’s chief executive, Don Iero, said: “Our vision now is to capture the market. We are uniquely positioned to scale.”
He said the company was “always going to do this regardless of Zipcar”, but the abandonment of the market “gives us ammunition to expand”.
Richard Dilks, chief executive of CoMoUK, a shared transport charity, said he has been involved in a number of discussions with London boroughs and Transport for London about what needs to be done to attract more players, including a single process across all boroughs and lower fees.
“There’s almost certainly going to be a huge cliff-edge gap,” he said. “I can see some signs of progress, but hypothetical at the moment. It’s going to be a long haul.”
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