Mitsubishi has been struggling for relevance and market share in the U.S. market for decades. It has a plan it calls Momentum 2030 that promises “a new or significantly revised vehicle every year between 2026 and 2030.” Now, the Japanese brand has confirmed that one of those vehicles will be a Mitsubishi EV based on the next-generation Nissan Leaf. It’s scheduled to launch in North America in the Summer of 2026, which will be close to the launch of the next-generation 2026 Chevy Bolt EV.
“The addition of this new battery-electric vehicle to our lineup will deliver a blend of internal combustion engines, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, so that our customers have the choice of technology that best suits their needs,” Mitsubishi Motors North America CEO Mark Chaffin said.
2030 Mitsubishi Lineup
That’s about it for official details on the upcoming Mitsubishi EV, but the brand has released a teaser image of what its 2030 lineup might look like. It predictably includes a lot of crossovers, reflecting the brand’s 2025 lineup, plus a decidedly boxier SUV and what looks like a compact hatchback.
Nissan released images of the 2026 Nissan Leaf back in March, and it’s turning into a small crossover rather than a hatchback. More details are coming in mid-2025. What we know for now is that the 2026 Nissan Leaf will ride on the CMF-EV platform that debuted with the Ariya. Nissan is promising the new Leaf will deliver greater efficiency, enhanced driving performance, and “significant range improvements” over the aging second-gen model that debuted in 2018.
2026 Nissan Leaf
Since the future Mitsubishi EV will be based on the next-gen Leaf, it will likely be a small crossover as well. It will be interesting to see how it compares in size, range, and price to the second-generation Chevy Bolt, also set for a 2026 model year debut. We reported back in December of 2023 that the next-gen Bolt will be based on the Bolt EUV. Rather than being split into two models like the first-gen, post-facelift Bolt, the 2026 Bolt model range will consist solely of a subcompact crossover.
Comments
What the heck is taking GM so long to get a new Bolt out? Reporting has been consistent that the new Bolt will be a slightly revised 2023 Bolt (last year) with not much different for looks and they will be using the more updated battery system (think Equinox detuned) that is already in use. Seriously, how long can it take them to pop the old Bolt in the microwave and warm it up!!
They don’t care about affordability. Celestiq is so much more important. Until it fails to sell.
But the answer for both Mitsubishi and Nissan is not EVs!
It’s not about affordability…it’s about making enough money on EVs to justify building cheaper models in volume that will sell and also who knows if the factory is even ready to produce a mass quantity of bolts where not talking about Chevy Cruze here! Besides I’d rather wait a little bit longer then have the three ring circus of problems that GM has rushing the last bolt to sell!
There were a couple of articles from October mentioning that the new Bolt is getting multiple variants.
I can’t link them but you can search: “GM teases next-gen Chevy Bolt EV: faster charging, multiple models” and you’ll find an article from The Verge.
Even though they’re working off of the pre-existing (albeit heavily revised) platform, perhaps GM’s new EV architecture allows for significantly more flexibility where the previous one could not.
I have a feeling they’re going to launch all models of the Bolt at once which could partially explain the delay.
The target for production has been late 2025 since they first announced it on the 2Q23 earnings all.
And they never said it would be “a slightly revised 2023 Bolt”. What Barra said was that GM would “execute it more quickly compared to an all-new program with significantly lower engineering expense and capital investment by updating the vehicle with Ultium and Ultifi technologies” and a lot of the articles seemed to assume that meant somehow cramming Ultium batteries into a Bolt chassis and calling it a day.
My guess is that she meant just that the Ultium platform itself facilitated accelerated engineering.
It’s also worth noting that this will be the first GM vehicle in North America to use an LFP battery pack. Establishing supply chains is just as important as engineering and building out production lines.
We’ll see if Mitsubishi will even be around in the US market by then. The way things are looking for them I just see a repeat of Isuzu and Suzuki.
Literally in the final days of both Isuzu and Suzuki they resorted to rebadging GM and Daewoos and here I see Mitsubishi resorting to rebadging Nissans now. Rebadging their way into irrelevance.
The one silver lining I see here is Mitsubishi does have a strong electronics division. They are a major player and innovator in the HVAC industry so maybe this will help them with EVs like LG and Samsung.
why to do a re-Bolt if you have in China Spark EV ?
GM has lost its way in manufacturing affordable vehicles. Sad.