- Mitsubishi revealed the Eclipse Sportback on Tuesday.
- It’s a small EV crossover based on the Nissan Leaf. And it shows.
- The electric model hits the U.S. in the late summer or early fall of this year, for an unknown price.
After a long hiatus, Mitsubishi is getting back into the EV game in America. The 2027 Eclipse Sportback will hit the U.S. in late summer or early fall, the automaker announced on Tuesday.
The compact crossover is a rebadged Nissan Leaf. And the three exterior photos Mitsubishi posted reveal a slightly sportier look with more aggressive front and rear bodywork. The Mitsubishi version also offers striking triangle-shaped wheels you can’t get on the Leaf.
Mitsubishi hasn’t shared any details about pricing, range, or other specifications. But the Nissan underpinnings tell us a lot about what to expect.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback is based on the Nissan Leaf but features slightly different design elements.
Photo by: Mitsubishi
The Nissan uses a 75-kilowatt-hour battery pack and offers a healthy 303 miles of range in its base trim. (That falls to 259 miles of EPA range if you choose a fancier model with larger wheels.) All Leafs are front-wheel drive, featuring a 214-horsepower motor.
Charging power is rated at 150 kilowatts, and Nissan says you can recharge from 10-80% in 35 minutes. Like practically all new EV models, the Leaf has a native Tesla-style NACS charging port for fast charging. What’s more unusual is that it also has a J1772 port on the other side for home or destination charging.
We at InsideEVs have found the Leaf to be a basic yet charming grocery-getter. The car earned our Breakthrough EV of the Year Award for 2026 for its combination of practicality, solid EV specs, and—most importantly—a price that’s hard to find in the electric world.
The Nissan Leaf hints at what we can expect from the Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback
Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs
The Leaf, revamped for the 2026 model year, starts at right around $30,000. And I wouldn’t expect the Mitsubishi version to stray too far from that. It means the U.S. is on track to get another much-needed cheap EV.
More Cheap EVs Are Coming Soon
Things could be better for the movement toward cheaper EVs in America. The end of the $7,500 tax credit of course dealt an overnight blow to affordability. Many automakers have scaled back their plans and canceled models—like the Volvo EX30 and Nissan Ariya—as the ground shifted beneath them. High tariffs and a looming ban on Chinese vehicle technology means we won’t see any ludicrously cheap BYD Seagulls or Geely EX2s on American shores anytime soon. (If there’s one thing politicians on the right and left can agree on these days, it’s that Chinese cars are a no-go for this country.)
Mitsubishi says the Eclipse Sportback will go on sale in the second half of 2026.
Photo by: Mitsubishi
But the dream isn’t dead either. The revamped Leaf and Chevy Bolt landed in recent months as two of the best low-cost EVs America has ever seen, featuring respectable charging power, solid range, and sub-$30,000 starting prices. The Subaru Uncharted recently debuted too as a $34,995 electric Crosstrek with over 300 miles of range. And more options are on the way.
Kia is coming out with the EV3 soon. Slate, the EV startup, plans to start taking orders for its back-to-basics pickup truck (and finally reveal the specifics of its “mid-twenties” price tag) later this month. Ford has touted an overhauled assembly process and EV platform that will yield a hyper-efficient $30,000 pickup truck to start. Next year we’ll see if that pays off.
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Even Tesla, which is probably in the best position of anybody to build an affordable, profitable EV but scrapped plans to do so, may be changing course. In April, Reuters reported that Tesla was discussing a smaller-than-Model-Y crossover with suppliers. The vehicle would be built first in China, and later in Europe and the U.S.
So it’s still early days for cheap, good EVs. And it’s a bumpy time for electric cars in America in general. But things may look very different soon.
Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com