A new 2026 Mitsubishi EV is coming to North America, expanding the lineup. This new electric vehicle has strong roots and could be important for Mitsubishi.
Mitsubishi is gearing up to launch a brand-new electric vehicle in North America by summer 2026, and it’s sharing DNA with the next-generation Nissan Leaf. Built on Nissan’s proven CMF-EV platform, this upcoming EV represents Mitsubishi’s serious push into the American electric car market. Here’s what this partnership means for car buyers and why shared EV platforms are becoming the smart move for automakers.
Competitive partnerships continue
In the history of the automotive world, various automotive brands have teamed up to build several vehicles. The current Toyota GR86 and Subaru BRZ provide an example of one of these partnerships that has worked out extremely well. Coming next year, a new Mitsubishi electric car will arrive to give the brand a boost in the second half of 2026. This new Mitsubishi EV adds to the lineup and is based on the Nissan Leaf, which shares the platform with this new model. This new Mitsubishi Nissan partnership can help push a brand that has been struggling in North America for many years forward.
The Leaf changes too
Adding a new 2025 Mitsubishi EV to the lineup in North America will help push this struggling brand forward, but that’s not all that’s new. The 2026 Nissan Leaf is brand new for next year as well. This third-generation model transforms from a hatchback into a subcompact SUV, and it will finally have a respectable driving range of more than 300 miles in some trims. The shared EV architecture should allow both models to be affordable and successful among drivers searching for electric vehicles in North America.
The first Mitsubishi EV
Do you remember the first Mitsubishi EV? Most people have forgotten about this vehicle, and that might be good for the brand. The first model was called the iMiEV, and it was a hatchback that was launched back in 2012. The iMiEV wasn’t much more than a slightly more powerful golf car, giving drivers up to 62 miles of driving range with a top speed of 80 MPH. It took nearly five business days just to get to 60 MPH (13.0 seconds actually), but this little hatchback was a first attempt that gave the brand a foundation and starting point 13 years ago. Some brands don’t even have that going for them.
The Leaf is outdated
Although the Nissan CMF-EV platform, which Mitsubishi will use as well, is a proven EV platform, the current Nissan Leaf is outdated and ready for a change. In reality, when the second-generation Leaf arrived on the market, it was already behind other EVs that were capable of as much as 300 miles of driving range.
The current Leaf offers between 149 and 212 miles of driving range, which doesn’t cut it in the modern market. This new Nissan Leaf will arrive for 2026 along with the new Mitsubishi EV for North America. The pair of brands has partnered up to reduce production costs and share technology, ensuring these EVs can be more affordable than most others on the market today.
Powertrains will be the same
The new Mitsubishi EV will presumably share powertrain options with the Leaf, making it just as capable as the new Leaf. Hopefully, that will also mean the Mitsubishi EV will have the same charging capabilities. This new Nissan model has a traditional charging plug on one side of the car and an NACS charging port on the other side. The NACS charging port allows an EV to utilize the Tesla Supercharging network to replenish its batteries to at least 80 percent of the full charge quickly.
Another part of this partnership
While Nissan will provide the EV tech for the new 2026 Mitsubishi EV coming to North America, another pair of vehicles will be upgraded. Nissan will use Mitsubishi’s plug-in hybrid technology, which is part of the current Outlander PHEV. This will allow Nissan to create a PHEV version of the Rogue compact SUV for 2026 based on this technology. The Rogue and Outlander already share similar structures, which means this should be an easy transition.
News hasn’t emerged for an official name for the new Mitsubishi EV, but the brand has registered trademarks for the Lancer, Lancer Evolution, Colt, Galant, and Montero. Which name would you choose for the new 2026 Mitsubishi EV coming to North America in the second half of next year?
