man using the zipcar app to book cars

How Zipcar Works

 

Find, book and unlock your Zipcar all using the app. Book Roundtrip cars and vans up to a year in advance, perfect for longer trips. Or just reserve a one-way Flex car when you’re ready to go – we’ll hold the car for 15 minutes.

 

When you’re ready to drive, use the app to navigate to the car and just tap the app to unlock it. You’ll also use the app to lock and end your booking.

There's two ways to drive: Flex or Roundtrip

Join online and you'll get access to thousands of our cars and vans throughout London. How you use them is up to you – we have two options to choose from.

Roundtrip and Flex

Flex - our one-way service. Just look for the blue pin in the app, reserve and drive then just drop in our Zipzone across London. Perfect for spontaneous one-way trips around the city, starting from 32p per minute.

Roundtrip - pick your car up from its dedicated bay – you’ll find them all over London. Use the app to find any green pin near you, book and drive by the hour or day - starting from £6 per hour or from £60 per day. Park in the same bay you picked your Zipcar up from.

Becoming a Zipcar member

Valid driver’s licence? Over 25? Just pick a plan and join online. International drivers can apply too. Run a business? Check out Zipcar for Business

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Pick a plan

You’ve got a choice of 3 plans: Basic has no monthly fee, Smart is £6/month and Plus is £15/month. Just pick whichever suits how often you need wheels.

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A few checks

To keep our Zipcar community safe, we check your driving record and verify your identity. This normally takes as little as 2 hours, but in some cases can take a couple of days.

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Hit the road

Once you’re approved, you can start searching for cars and book straight away with the Zipcar app.

What you will need:

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  • A clear selfie holding a valid driver’s licence
  • Valid debit or credit card

International driver?

Behind the scenes at Zipcar

Find out how our team keeps Zipcar moving, from electric vehicle charging to car re-location!

Find out more

Our Community Rules

Before you hit the road, read our community rules of car-sharing.

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Return it right

Return a Roundtrip on time, or you can extend your booking. Drop a Flex in our Zipzone.

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Keep it clean

Clean up, don’t smoke and take everything with you. Don’t forget to recycle your rubbish!

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Fill ‘er up

If fuel is below ¼ tank at the end of your trip, fill up before you return to it’s bay. Fuel's on us!

Why Rent a Zipcar?

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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!

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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. 

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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.

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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. 

Frequently asked questions