Mitsubishi Angers Purists With an Electric Eclipse SUV

The Eclipse we grew up with died in 2012 when Mitsubishi pulled the plug on its affordable sports car. However, the name made an unexpected return five years later, repurposed for an entirely different vehicle. Fast-forward to 2025, and the Eclipse Cross is still in its first generation, but a successor is on the way. Much to the dismay of enthusiasts, it will stray even further from the original formula by becoming an EV.

Mitsubishi is working on a second-generation Eclipse Cross as a purely electric vehicle and its first EV in Europe since the i-MiEV launched back in 2010. The new model won’t be a true Mitsubishi, though, as it’s being developed by alliance partner Renault and will be built at Renault’s factory in Douai, France. In reality, the next Eclipse Cross will be a badge-engineered version of the Scenic E-Tech.

It’s one of several Mitsubishi models sourced from the automaker’s French ally. The Colt is a rebadged Clio, the ASX is based on the Captur, and the upcoming Grandis will essentially be a Symbioz. This underscores Mitsubishi’s reliance on Renault to maintain a presence in Europe, where its only proprietary models will be the Space Star and Outlander once the original Eclipse Cross is phased out.

The new EV will debut in September and go on sale in Europe in the fourth quarter of the year as a long-range version, with a mid-range variant scheduled for 2026. In the meantime, Mitsubishi will unveil the Grandis in July and launch it in late fall with both mild-hybrid and full-hybrid powertrains.

In other regions, Mitsubishi is slapping its badge on the new Nissan Leaf crossover. Additionally, it’s teaming up with Foxtron to speed up the launch of another EV. Foxtron is a joint venture between iPhone maker Foxconn and Yulon, Taiwan’s largest automaker. This new model will be based on the Foxconn Model B and will go on sale in the second half of 2026. It won’t be made by Mitsubishi either, but rather by Yulon in Taiwan.

But not everything will be a case of swapping badges. The genuinely cool off-road D:X minivan concept is morphing into a production model and is coming to the United States. Mitsubishi intends to launch a “new or significantly revised vehicle” each year from 2026 until 2030 in the U.S. It’ll get the ball rolling next year with its take on Nissan’s reinvented Leaf.