TLC Properties introduces new Tesla car share program for Township 28 apartments

TLC Properties in Springfield announced a new Tesla car share program that allows residents at Township 28 to use the electric car for up to six hours at a time.

This new car share program, Flex Drive, will offer a Tesla Model 3 that residents of the apartment complex can use free of charge after registering their driver's license and insurance through the the Flex Drive app on their smartphones.

Once approved through the app, residents can check out the Tesla for up to six hours at a time and travel up to a 50-mile radius.

Although this program might have come at the perfect time with gas prices at an all-time high in Missouri, that isn't what inspired TLC Properties to start this new program. The idea dates back to 2016 when company management noticed charging stations for electric vehicles on their properties weren't being used.

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This car share program will start at Township 28, but TLC Properties hopes to expand to their other properties in Springfield if it is successful.

"It's just more or less pushing the customer experience and showing them this is a lifestyle and a way to live," said Ken Oeser, director of sales and services at TLC Properties.

Public relations specialist Lance Lloyd added that this Tesla-sharing program is the only one like it among apartment complexes in the area.

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Ralph Green is a business reporter with the Springfield News-Leader. Contact him at RAGreen@gannett.com, by phone: (417-536-4061) or on Twitter at RalphGreenNL

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: TLC Properties introduces new Tesla car share program at Township 28