What is car sharing?

Car sharing or car clubs allow individuals and businesses to have access to a vehicle without being tied to ownership. Car clubs are a key component for future sustainable transport solutions across cities all over the world. As travel needs change car sharing provides a mobility solution for short term car use through the sharing economy.

Brands like Zipcar, Ubeeqo and Enterprise Car Club provide a fleet-based service, which means that the company owns and maintains the vehicles. Often the company will include things like fuel, tax, insurance, congestion charge (the list goes on) - but it depends on the brand.

Whereas, peer to peer services (Turo, Hiyacar, getaround) are based on car owners adding their cars to the platform and charge a fee for members to rent them.

For more information go to CoMo UK.

Can I travel one-way? Do I need to return the car to where I found it?

Most car sharing companies provide round trip services which mean you have to return the vehicle from the same designated bay it was picked up from. In London these bays are marked as “car club” bays which makes them easy to find. At Zipcar we call this service Roundtrip – but we also offer one-way journeys, in Flex. Zipcar Flex is available in London, and it allows members to pick up vehicles on their doorstep and drop them wherever they’re going, providing you’re within a designated borough and approved parking area.

Flex makes it easier for people to make short journeys across town within the safety of a car, use cases include commuting, popping over to a friend's place, avoiding wet weather, getting home after the cinema the possibilities are endless.

What if I own a car already?

Lots of Zipcar members also own their own vehicles and use Zipcar too. What we offer is totally unique and gives members them flexibility should they need an extra pair of wheels. We’re such big fans of car sharing we’ve even done some research that shows it’s cheaper to use Zipcar than own one! Follow this link to find out more

Zipcar has over 3,000 cars and vans available with the majority of them in London. Enterprise Car Club have 1,400 spread across the UK and Ubeeqo have 400 in London. The peer to peer services are more volatile with the availability as it is dependent on the owner listing their car at any one time.

You will probably have noticed a few of the bays and vehicles when you’re out and about, but the best way of finding the vehicles is all via an app. That way you can use your location to find the vehicles closest to you. Check out the Zipcar app to see cars near you.

Why Rent a Zipcar?

Save money

We pay for fuel, parking, Congestion Charge and insurance – so you get access to a car without all the hassle of owning one!

Rent a car locally

Zipcars live just around the corner. We've got the largest car sharing fleet in the UK (not that we're boasting) and you'll find us in cities across the UK.

Drive on-demand

Whatever you need wheels for, we’ve got them. Rent cars and vans by the minute, hour or day when and where you need them.

Live greener

We’re the perfect addition to buses, trains and bikes for those times when you just need a car. We've also got hundreds of electric cars in our fleet.

Join now