Tampa rental company unveils fully electric crane

Sims Crane and Equipment Co., a large private crane rental and rigging service company, showcased what it says is the world's first battery-powered crawler crane on Monday morning at Sims corporate headquarters in Tampa.

Sims hosted the crawler crane's U.S. debut event with the crawler crane's designer, Liebherr, an international equipment manufacturer.

Sims officials say the crawler crane's battery-powered engine cuts local carbon emissions completely, and is capable of operating for eight hours unplugged, or for an unlimited amount of time when connected to a power source. Liebherr and Sims say there is no compromise in performance between the electric version of the crawler crane and its diesel-powered counterpart.