A BMW i3 electric vehicle sits on display at the 2103 Tokyo Motor Show in Japan.

Transportation

3. A leaner Ford F-150. As falling gas prices lure many drivers back to trucks, America's best-selling vehicle for the past three decades will be less of a gas guzzler. Ford's giving the 2015 model a major makeover. By swapping steel for aluminum, the pickup has lost 700 pounds and its gas mileage is expected to improve. In new ads slated to begin December 31, however, Ford touts the truck's durability—not its greater fuel efficiency.

4. Toyota's $57,000 fuel-cell car. In November, Toyota unveiled plans for a sedan—known as the Mirai, or "future" in Japanese—that runs on hydrogen and emits only water vapor. The automaker also said it would help build a U.S. network of 31 hydrogen-fueling stations and would make the Mirai available first to California customers in the fall of 2015. Honda has delayed the mass-market launch of its fuel-cell model, aiming for a rollout in Japan by the end of 2016. (See related story: "Fuel Cells Power Up: Three Surprising Places Where Hydrogen Energy Is Working.")

5. BMW's long-range electric vehicle. This year BMW, the self-described maker of "the ultimate driving machine," began selling a sleek electric car, the i3, that can to 80 to 100 miles on a single three-hour charge. Priced at about $41,000, its sales are outpacing those of Tesla's version, which costs at least twice as much.

6. Airbus's all-electric trainer plane. In July, the France-based aircraft maker began flying a prototype of the first plane to be powered entirely by batteries. It aims to begin selling the two-seater E-Fan 2.0 in late 2017 for pilot training and is looking at the eventual debut of E-Fan 4.0 with space for four passengers.