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The ultimate guide: Car sharing UK (Plus ridesharing and car clubs)

• Remove the financial overheads of car ownership
• Avoid public transport with car clubs and rideshare schemes 
• Works much in the same as renting a car

Written by Murray Scullion Published: 27 May 2020 Updated: 25 July 2023

Car sharing and ride-sharing schemes in the UK have been disrupting traditional car ownership for some time now. When you factor in insurance, maintenance, monthly bills or subscription and fuel, motoring costs can soon spiral. If you don’t use your car very frequently, a car club could be a more budget-friendly approach to mobility.

By paying as you travel, you’re negating the cost of keeping a parked car. Current estimates suggest cars are parked at home for 80% of the time, and elsewhere for 16.5%, getting driven a mere 3.5% of the time. While this figure may have climbed higher for those able to make an office of the car during the pandemic, toll roads and pay-per mile concepts all threaten to make motoring even more expensive.

The pandemic really hit taxis, car clubs and other shared mobility platforms. Now we’re collectively learning to live again, we’re taking extra precautions to cope with any viral threats. As the cost-of-living crisis is upon us, along with developing clean air zones , it’s understandable that drivers are looking at ways to cut their cloth, in a bid to economise. In this guide we’ll look at car sharing in the UK:

• What does car-sharing mean?

How does a car club work?

• Why car sharing is a good idea?
• How hygienic is sharing a car?

How much does car sharing cost? And what cars are available?

• What is the difference between ridesharing and car sharing?
• The platforms offering car sharing services, such as Karshare, Hiyacar, Zipcar, Enterprise and Uber

What does car sharing mean?

Car sharing is a simple enough concept. Rather than owning your own vehicle and having all of the associated costs, you pay for the use of someone else’s. There are commercial car sharing, member–based car sharing and community car sharing models. 

Unlike traditional car rentals, which require the customer to pick up and return the vehicle (often at a location out of town), car sharing is ‘hyperflexible.’ Drivers can rent a car from as little as an hour to several days depending on their circumstances, smashing the conventional rental model which separates loans into 24-hour blocks. Shared vehicles can often be found in your locale and, in some instances, don’t need to be returned to the exact same spot.

Carsharing differs from ridesharing, in that the latter doesn’t require you to do the driving—more on that in a bit. 

Commercial car sharing usually means joining a car club, though not always. Like car rental companies, such as Hertz and Enterprise, the car being borrowed is newer and part of a large fleet owned by the company. But rather than just rock up for a rental car and whip out your identification each time you hire, car clubs keep your driving licence details on file so hyperflexible hire is faster and easier.

Drivers create an account, earn loyalty benefits and can pay a subscription for preferential rates. Most use an app through a mobile device or desktop browser to enable drivers to book a window in which they wish to use the vehicle.

Telematics technology enables the car to be locked and unlocked using your mobile phone. The vehicle key, if one is needed, can usually be found in the glovebox.

Why is car sharing a good idea?

Over a year, a motorist could spend approximately £5,471 on their vehicle; tax (£145*), fuel (£1,200**), insurance (£526***) and vehicle costs (£3,600****).  

(*the lower amount set for every new, non-electric vehicle in the UK, **based on an assumed £100 per month, although this is looking increasingly like one fill-up with current fuel prices, ***the average comparison website GoCompare reported UK drivers in 2020 paid for comprehensive insurance, **** Average monthly PCP repayments are between £300 and £400 in the UK, but we erred more cautiously.)

This is an average monthly expense of £456. If you only drive on weekends, or just occasionally throughout the month—and even then for merely a few hours—it might be more cost-effective to car share.

Car sharing enables the flexibility of picking a vehicle to suit your needs each time you drive, too. So where a small city car might be useful for a solo visit to the suburbs, an SUV might be a better pick for a group excursion to the coast. 

How hygienic is car sharing?

Since the pandemic, all car club platforms, whether commercial or community, have encouraged their members to be mindful of hygiene standards when using vehicles, requesting the use of anti-bacterial gel before and after each trip.

Commercial firms such as Zipcar have implemented ‘enhanced cleaning protocols.’ This includes additional cleaning to places you touch, like door handles, keys, and steering wheels.

A spokesperson for the company said: ‘The safety of our members is our absolute priority. We already had stringent checks in place to ensure that all of our vehicles are cleaned regularly and thoroughly with an industry grade cleaning solution, paying particular attention to steering wheels, door handles, and key fobs.”

Peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms like Hiyacar advise drivers and owners to ‘make sure to wipe down the common touch points. Hiyacar will also ‘quarantine’ a car if someone tests positive or develops symptoms when using or within three days of using a vehicle.

In early experiences of Zipcar, we found rubbish and biscuit crumbs in a couple of vehicles we used. Zipcar was apologetic on both occasions, issuing a refund for the hire. Its terms and conditions mean users that don’t keep the vehicles as clean as they found them are financially penalised, but it’s not a perfect science. 

Generally, car sharing schemes cost between £5 and £10 per hour. However, it isn’t quite as simple as that.

In an effort to keep cash flowing (or to offer value to customers, depending on who you listen to) many companies offer a subscription service.

For instance, Zipcar lets you sign up for £0 per month. This gives you a basic rate of £8.50 per hour (£79/day) including 60 miles worth of fuel, insurance, breakdown assistance, and congestion charge (although you can also pay by the minute, at £0.35 per minute, this seems an especially expensive way to drive).

For £6 a month, you get £6 worth of credit, plus, the hourly rate drops to £6.50 per hour (£59/day). While there’s a £15 a month option that gives you £15 worth of credit, plus a rate of £5.50 per hour (£55/day).

The figures used here are based around a Volkswagen Polo . Expect to find Ford Fiestas, Vauxhall Corsas, and Hyundai i20s for the same kind of price.

Electric vehicles, like the Volkswagen e-Golf , Hyundai Ioniq Electric and Renault Zoe are increasingly available and can be slightly more expensive. Similarly, bigger cars, like a Ford Focus , work out at a couple of quid more an hour too.

Some platforms, like Ubeeqo, calculate the price based on type of vehicle, length of time needed and mileage driven. Then to make it more complex, like Zipcar, it offers a discounted rate to those that subscribe. 

For example, a Ubeeqo city car for one hour and up to 40 miles is £7. Make it two hours and it’s £14. Plan to go 50 miles and it’s £20. If you’re not a member, it’s £29. In a van, two hours and 50 miles without a subscription is £34. A premium SUV is £40. 

P2P platforms can work out a bit cheaper because the cars belong to real people in the local community. What’s more, the locations, particularly in the London area, tend to be more convenient, though of course, you need to return the car to the same place you pick it up.

If you’ve got a friend willing to loan you use of their vehicle, you can always insure yourself by the hour using hyperflexible insurer Cuvva .

What’s the difference with ridesharing?

Ridesharing is an adopted Americanism for ‘carpooling’, aka giving someone a lift. There are more informal models, such as Facebook pages, which help people find others travelling in the same direction, who can share costs.

Then there’s more formal models, like UberX Share (formerly UberPool). This is where you share a cab journey with other riders for a discounted rate.

Some popular car sharing apps include:

Enterprise car club.

The Co-Wheels Car Club claims to be the UK’s largest. A third of its fleet is electric, many others are petrol hybrid and it operates in more than 60 locations nationwide. Prices start from £5 per hour, agreements have a mileage limitation, which if exceeded, cost from £0.20 per mile extra.

There’s a choice of city, every day or family cars, which range from the Aygo and Fiat 500 to the Yaris and through to the MG5 Estate. Co-Wheels also enables drivers to borrow vans from £7.50 per hour.

To be a member of Co-Wheels, you need to be over 19, have held your licence for more than two years and have no penalty points whatsoever.

In an attempt to rival Zipcar, Enterprise rental has created Enterprise Car Club . With a range of cars and vans to borrow, drivers can access shared vehicles from convenient locations. Membership includes fuel, servicing, MOTs, breakdown cover, insurance and cleaning. 

Unlike other car clubs on this list, Enterprise has a greater presence across the whole of the UK, lending from places there’s already an established Enterprise branch. 

Previously known as Drivy, Getaround is a P2P carsharing platform . Predominantly based in London, it’s very similar to AirBnB in that no subscription is required. You simply find the vehicle you wish to borrow from a local car owner, and with Allianz-backed insurance and AA roadside assistance, you can rent by the hour, day or week. 

The car page features a description from the owner, details about the owner and location of the car. There are also reviews left by other users.

HiyaCar operates in 10 areas of the country, predominantly in London. Car owners list their vehicles and other drivers can hire them within their locality, on a hyperflexible basis. 

Like the model used in AirBnB, car owners can write up their own descriptions alongside the key specs. They can also set the parameters of the hire – over 21s only – and are evaluated publicly by response time and number of ‘Hiyas’ they’ve enabled. 

Cars vary by make, model, price and location. All cars are covered by comprehensive insurance and AA Roadside Assistance. The price is calculated once drivers submit their licence and age details and they are responsible for replacing the fuel used during the hire. 

Hiyacar’s QuickStart system enables the drivers’ mobile phone to become the key—though strictly only a verified device can be used. Before driving off and when returning the vehicle, drivers need to confirm their identity, take pictures to timestamp the fuel level and condition of the car before hire.

Straddling both ridesharing and car sharing in the UK, Liftshare is a platform to connect you to other drivers that might already be going your way. You can list yourself as a driver, or as a passenger. You can stipulate what journey you’re making/looking to share and whether it’s regular or a one-off. As a driver, you can also set the contribution you’d like from passengers. 

Similar to Hiyacar, Karshare is an app-based platform with a community approach. Car owners, in a locality specified by the driver, set the prices and the rules. Karshare’s platform then connects them with drivers who need to use their vehicle for a few hours. 

Karshare offers the technology to unlock the vehicle through the mobile app, too. Like other platforms, Karshare’s owners have a wide range of cars to pick from, including SUVs and electric vehicles. 

Drivers are covered by comprehensive insurance and RAC breakdown cover. Karshare’s model also enables drivers that lease, rather than own, the freedom to share their vehicle too. 

With a Europe-wide operation, Ubeeqo is Europcar’s answer to Zipcar . Operating in London and Manchester, there’s a choice of vans and cars on offer, depending on the drivers’ needs. 

Registration and booking is completed through the app. The vehicles can also be unlocked with the app. Ubeeqo requires you to return the vehicle to the same parking bay or area. 

Uber was the main disruptor to hit the instant private hire market over a decade ago. Its fast growth created a slew of headaches, not least in London, where disruption to the black cab community created huge backlash. It also faced litigation about driver conditions and disturbing company culture around the world.

Though it seems over that barrage of bad news (Transport for London granted it a licence again), these distractions have enabled other companies to move into its space, including Bolt , FreeNow , and OLA. 

In the UK, private hire mini cab and hackney carriage licences are very different. Only the latter has the permit to pick up at the side of the road after being flagged down. The test to be a black cab driver is called The Knowledge and costs drivers thousands, so unsurprisingly, their rates tend to be higher.

Private hire mini cabs must be pre-booked. Once operated out of a small office near a station, many have moved reservations online to compete with Uber et al. Even the black cabs have their own app, Gett . With apps, pre-booking can happen mere minutes beforehand.

Uber however continues to innovate. As mentioned there’s UberX Share, for those who are happy to rideshare. Uber’s even moving into Zipcar territory with Uber Rent, though this isn’t in the UK yet. 

Uber relies on regular drivers becoming cab drivers on their fleet. If they don’t have their own vehicle, drivers can arrange to lease a vehicle to be an Uber driver through Uber’s collaboration with Partner Point. 

To Uber to a destination, you simply open the app and request a ride. Once it’s accepted, you’ll see the pick-up point (these drivers don’t have access to some roads or stopping points in the same way as black cabs) and the estimated cost. Uber has been criticised for its ‘surge pricing’, which happens when there’s high demand—often straight after an event or at a particular time, such as Friday evenings. 

However, users are notified of the surge prices, indicated as ‘2X, due to high demand’, and can accept or find another form of transport to use. 

Zipcar offers members, who pay a one-off fee to join and greater benefits on a monthly subscription basis, access to its fleet of vehicles parked in designated places around cities in which it operates. That is across London and Bristol, Cambridge and Oxford too.  

Trips can be booked up to a year in advance, meaning cars and vans can be hired for a few hours to help one move house. One of Zipcar’s coolest features is Zipcar Flex . This service enables holiday makers to borrow a car to make the trip to Heathrow airport for a small parking premium. This works out much cheaper than getting a cab across town and is much more convenient than lugging bags around the tube network.

Ride sharing

• Cheap tickets
• Ridesharing

Find a ride-share

Gopili compares liftshare offers from all the best ride sharing providers in the UK to help you find the best price for your next journey.

Find easily cheap ride-share

To help travellers Gopili has adopted an innovative approach by providing a search engine that compares carpooling rides with train and coach offers as well as flights. In one click, you can compare ride-share offers with other transportation modes in the United Kingdom to help you find the option that will suit you best.

Gopili is the first travel search engine in the United Kingdom that helps travellers to compare the rides offering by carpooling sites with other travel options; we will find for you all ride-shares available for the journey of your choice!

List of ridesharing sites

You're sure to find a ride share that suits your needs at the best price! To find the offers directly on sites, you can search one by one on the following websites:

With 10 million members and 2 million people transported each month, BlaBlaCar is the reference of ride-sharing in Europe. The site offers many services: a price journey calculator, calendar events, e-mail alerts and mobile applications.

Liftshare is the largest ride-share scheme in the UK. A carpooling website for journeys in the United Kingdom, it allows you to book ride sharing seats online. Simple and easy to use, Liftshare will help you to find a ride-share route for your weekends or holidays.

The GoCarShare.com site offers lift-shares for regular and occasional rides for drivers and passengers throughout the United Kingdom. This large ride sharing service simply reduces travel expenses whether you’re driving or catching a lift.

Ride-share in UK

More and more people are sharing their cars to travel in the United Kindgom. For regular or occasional trips, leisure travel or business, this new mode of transport appeals to a lot of people every day. It is a great way to save money, meet new people, make new friends, help the environment and ease traffic congestions.

Ride-share in Europe

To move in Europe, you can also choose to share your car and split the cost of gas with passengers. Many people travel by car share to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin…

The advantages of carpooling

Ride sharing enables many people to travel in a single car to a common destination. Whether for long distance journeys or short, regular journeys or occasional ones, ridesharing is another way to travel.

For those who do not own cars, are not authorized to drive, or are away from public transport, this mode of transport can be a practical way to travel.

This new means of transport is increasingly used by travellers for several reasons:

• Ride share is cheap: With rising price of fuel, ride sharing is becoming more and more used on long-distance journeys; it’s the same for regular journey from home to work. By sharing the costs with the driver and other passengers you are sure to save money on travel!
• Ride share is green: Share their car; significantly reduce the number of cars on the roads. Therefore it reduces greenhouse gas emissions and thus reduces pollution!
• Ride share is friendly: The time of solitary monotonous journeys are gone thanks to ride sharing! This new mode of transport was created to enable people to help each other and have a good time with the people travelling with you.

Choose ride share to travel with eco-mobility, solidarity and responsible consumption!

• Tips & advice

Ultimate guide to car sharing, car clubs and ride-sharing

We have all you need to know about your car sharing options, with first-hand tests of zipcar, drivenow and more.

Traffic forecasts predict that congestion on our roads could increase by as much as 55 per cent in the next 25 years, hitting urban areas and cities hardest.

For drivers who already spend hours commuting on already clogged-up roads, this is far from good news. The trouble is, people need to get places – so how do you solve this problem? One potential solution is car sharing. 

By picking up cars scattered around the city, or sharing a ride to work with a colleague, experts predict the number of cars on our roads could be reduced ten-fold, bringing down congestion and cutting pollution levels, too. 

Although the idea has been around for a while, the last 12 months have seen a growing number of manufacturers also getting behind schemes. Brands such as General Motors and Volkswagen have invested millions into car sharing projects with more set to follow. So what does the future hold? And is car sharing really the way to go? Auto Express tried out different schemes to find out.

• Ultimate guide to self-driving cars

Car sharing can predominantly be split into two different strands; traditional schemes operated by companies offering cars for rent on a flexible basis, and peer-to-peer options that have owners renting their own car for others, or sharing a ride to an agreed destination. 

It was traditional schemes that we turned our attention to first. Companies like DriveNow and Zipcar have grown exponentially over the past few years. Since 2014, DriveNow , which uses a fleet of BMWs and MINIs in north east London, has grown to 20,000 members, with 300 different cars for rent at any given time, while Zipcar currently has 1,500 vehicles dotted around the UK.  

These services require you to register and hand over your licence details to be checked with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to ensure you don’t have too many points on your record, before paying a registration fee. These vary between companies, with DriveNow requiring a one-off £29 payment and Zipcar a £59.50 annual subscription fee. Users then receive a card to unlock reserved cars via a windscreen sensor. 

You reserve your car in advance via the website or the app, and depending on the provider you select, you may have to return it to the same spot, as you do with Zipcar.

• Car running costs: how to save money on fuel, insurance and more

DriveNow is slightly more flexible, with users able to make reservations more spontaneously and drop cars back off anywhere in the same area. Currently, though, it only operates in areas it has a parking agreement with, which includes the London boroughs of Islington, Hackney, Haringey and Waltham Forest.  

We tried out a plug-in hybrid VW Golf GTE from Zipcar and an all-electric BMW i3 from DriveNow. Both cars were unlocked by tapping the customer card on the windscreen – an eerie experience at first, but something you can easily see yourself getting accustomed to. We didn’t even need a key to start the i3; we simply input our personal PIN code on the infotainment system to start the engine. For the GTE, the keys were neatly stored in the glovebox. 

Both cars were as easy to use as a normal hire vehicle. Before the journey, we checked the car for any damage caused by previous owners, and when dropping them off, we made sure they were in the same condition we picked them up in. It’s easy to see the appeal of these schemes – vehicles in the Zipcar and DriveNow fleets could be found easily via the app, reserved in seconds and then picked up from their various locations around the city. 

This type of car sharing does have its limitations, though. What about if you need to make a one-way journey or want to travel outside of the areas where the companies operate? 

That’s where peer-to-peer schemes can help bridge the gap. A trip from London to Manchester – which can easily cost over £55 by train – is advertised on sites like BlaBlaCar for £15. BlaBlaCar works by linking drivers going to popular destinations such as airports or cities with those who need a lift. The journeys will likely be cheaper, too, as drivers are unable to make a profit using the scheme – the site calculates how much the journey would cost and only allows drivers to split this cost with their passengers rather than charge extortionate amounts. 

• UK car insurance groups: what do they mean for you and your car?

Other schemes like HiyaCar allow users to rent cars from other owners in the nearby area, with fees varying on the kind of cars for rent. We found we could get a Vauxhall Corsa for less than £50 a day, while something like a 16-plate Range Rover would have set us back £230.

It’s clear that sharing – both traditional and peer-to-peer – will only grow as people start to move away from owning cars. You only have to look at the rise of ride-hailing platforms like Uber to see the changing market. 

Manufacturers agree, too. BMW’s DriveNow is one of the early forerunners of flexible hire car schemes, and UK managing director Joseph Seal-Driver gave us an insight into why manufacturers may see the benefit: “It’s a great platform to offer their products to new, potential customers,” he said. “By having someone use a BMW or a MINI on a regular basis, and seeing how good the car is, it will definitely influence them when it comes time to making a purchasing decision.” 

Volkswagen recently said its new mobility services business will be the Group’s 13th brand – the firststage being its Zipwagen partnership with Zipcar.

General Motors has also announced a new car sharing service called Maven in the US, while Toyota followed suit with its YUKO Car Club service in Dublin. Both plan to expand these into other cities in the future.

With this scale of progress, research consultancy Frost & Sullivan expects 46 million members worldwide to be using over 570,000 vehicles by 2025. Just over half a million vehicles may not sound like a lot, considering there are over 30 million cars registered in the UK alone.

However, according to Frost & Sullivan, a single car used by car sharing schemes eliminates the need for 12.5 cars. Seal-Driver thinks the impact of flexible schemes could be even greater, with a DriveNow car able to replace up to 200 cars on the road.

For car sharing to reach this level, laws have to change, as the biggest challenge remains the age-old concern of parking. “We’d like to see the UK Government seriously consider giving schemes better access to residential parking zones – it’s good for the economy and the environment,” added Seal-Driver. There is some Government backing for car sharing, though, with the Department for Transport recently setting aside £1.1million to support it in the UK – although it ruled out changing parking laws as they’re “up to individual councils”.

With everyone pulling in the same direction, it seems that car sharing could soon become the norm in fighting traffic congestion, as well as saving costs and reducing emissions. After all, a problem shared is a problem halved.

Car sharing options explained

There are two different types of car sharing schemes. Traditional operators have a fleet of cars available to lease, while peer-to-peer clubs allow owners to share or rent their own vehicles. Here we list the pros and cons of both...

Traditional sharing

Typical operators: Zipcar, DriveNow, Enterprice Car Share Typical costs: £0.33 per minute/£6 per hour/£54 per day Pros: Clean, often brand-new cars, easy to use, insurance/fuel paid for Cons: Expensive, specific locations, license points may stop registration

Peer-to-peer sharing

Typical operators: BlaBlaCars, HiyaCar, easyCar club, Rentecarlo, liftshare, GoCarShare Typical costs: £50 per day, £15 (London to Manchester) Pros: Huge range of cars, great way for owners to make extra money Cons: Pay for fuel, often older cars, less clean or presentable

Your key car sharing questions answered

Thinking of taking the plunge? You may have some reservations, but there’s little to be worried about as car sharing is designed to be as simple as possible.

Q. How does insurance work?

With traditional schemes, the company insures you on its car. The same applies to some peer-to-peer schemes where the registration process includes passing your details to insurers. With ride-sharing schemes where owners can’t make a profit, their regular car insurance will cover the journeys.

Q. I often have people car share with me on my way to work. What do I need to know?

As long as you’re not making a profit, there is no insurance issue. Graeme Trudgill, British Insurance Brokers’ Association executive director, said: “If you are travelling from home to your usual place of work without a detour and your motor certificate covers commuting, your policy is fine as it stands – but make sure it covers commuting.”

Q. How old to I have to be?

This varies between companies. However, most will require you to be older than 23. 

Q. What if I've damaged the car?

While the insurance will cover some of the repair costs, there are usually ‘damage fees’ which the driver will have to pay.

Q. Where do I return the car to?

Most schemes will require you to drop the car off  where you picked it up from, but some can be leftin any residential parking spot in agreed areas.

Q. What do I do about refuelling?

Most traditional schemes supply their cars with fuel cards to cover any expenses. With peer-to-peer schemes, it’s good practice to return the car with the same amount of fuel left when you took it out. 

Car sharing case study

Senthuran gengatharanlives: harlesden, london.

Renting your own car to strangers carries a lot of risks, but Senthuran Gengatharan, from London, told us that the people he’s shared his Alfa Mito and BMW 5 Series with via HiyaCar have never caused any issues. 

He said: “I had some doubts, as I take pride in my cars, and the fear of giving it to a stranger is always there. But so far, I have come across really genuine people which has encouraged me to continue. 

“You meet people from all walks of life and hiring for various reasons, from musicians on tour to business meetings, weddings and holiday goers.”

The money Senthuran makes varies, but in peak periods like summer holidays, his cars can be hired out most days. He added: “On average, it’s about £150 a week per car.” 

Have you ever tried car sharing? Tell us about it in the comments section...

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