Mitsubishi made the shocking announcement this week that its version of the Nissan Leaf, questionably named the Eclipse Sportback, will start at a whopping $39,740 including destination. That makes it a whole $8,175 more expensive than the Leaf’s starting price, which sounds insane on the surface. There’s even a $2,600 Technology Package in case you want to pay over $40,000 for your small Mitsubishi EV. Upon closer examination, the pricing begins to make a little more sense, but it’s still questionable. Let’s go through the differences between it and the Leaf and whether those differences justify the pricing.
This comparison is based on pricing and features for the 2026 Leaf since 2027 Leaf pricing and any potential changes are unavailable at the time of writing.
Exterior Differences
2027 Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback from the front three-quarter angleMitsubishi
Labeling the Eclipse Sportback simply as a rebadge wouldn’t be giving Mitsubishi enough credit, because as you can see, the two cars do have some significant styling changes, more so than the GR86/BRZ twins, for example, or Nissan’s actual rebadge of Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV, the Rogue Plug-In Hybrid. Starting up front, you can see that Mitsubishi went bolder and more aggressive than Nissan with that front bumper, for better or for worse. We’ll let you be the judge. Let us know in the comments.
That theme continues with the headlights, which are more angular and jagged compared to the smooth lines of the Leaf’s lights. Mitsubishi also makes the grille a bit busier versus the nearly nonexistent grille of the Leaf, which features a light bar on the Platinum+ trim that the Eclipse Cross doesn’t get, but not much else otherwise.
2027 Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback from the sideMitsubishi
On the sides, Mitsubishi continues the bolder approach with more stylistic wheels and a big EV badge on the front doors. There’s also a subtle difference in where Mitsubishi applied chrome trim on the C-pillar compared to Nissan, but aside from those things, the sides of the two are the same.
2027 Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback from the rear three-quarter angleMitsubishi
Out back, the main difference once again is the bumper, which, unsurprisingly, is also more jagged and pronounced compared to the smoother design of the Nissan. There’s also a different design for the innards of the tail lights, even though the shape is the same between the two cars. The Eclipse Sportback doesn’t get the extra lights across the middle that the Leaf gets only on its Platinum+ trim, but it does get another large EV badge on the back for good measure.
Interior Differences
Interior photo showing the 2027 Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback dashboardMitsubishi
The actual design of these two interiors is nearly identical, with Mitsubishi only bothering to change the dashboard materials, the seat skins, the badge on the steering wheel and the digital car in the infotainment system. Everything else is the same, including the screens, although the base Leaf does go down from the 14.3-inch screens in the other trims to 12.3-inch displays. Mitsubishi also only offers black for the interior color, compared to the Nissan, which offers splashes of color with blue accents on the dash and seats, along with a Light Gray option also combined with blue accents, to brighten up the cabin.
2026 Nissan LeafNissan
The features you get in the cabin are mostly the same, although Mitsubishi and Nissan both package things differently. The Leaf offers three different trims: S+, SV+, and Platinum+. The Eclipse Sportback only has one trim, which, content-wise, sits in between the SV+ and Platinum+ trims of the Leaf and is pretty well-equipped. This partially explains the big starting price gap. You get far fewer features in the lowest trim of the Leaf. So if you want a more basic vehicle, the Leaf will be the only option. The Eclipse Sportback’s only option is the Technology Package for $2,600, which gives you four things from the Platinum+ Leaf: A Bose Personal Plus stereo with speakers in the headrest, a hands-free power liftgate, an electrochromic dimming glass roof, and, strangely, roof rails, which have nothing to do with technology. Adding that package brings the grand total (before paint, which is also extra for every color except gray) to $42,340 including destination, $1,475 more than a loaded Leaf. And it still doesn’t get the head-up display or ambient lighting that the Platinum+ Leaf has.
Interior photo showing the 2027 Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback front seatsMitsubishi
But for the few buyers who don’t need those features, but still want some of the other Platinum+ features like a heated steering wheel and heated rear seats, the Eclipse Sportback includes these nice touches, putting it above Nissan’s SV+ trim. But that trim of the Leaf costs just $36,105, which means at the Mitsubishi’s $39,740 price tag, you’re effectively paying an outrageous $3,635 for those two features, and might as well get all the Platinum+ features in the Leaf for only $1,125 more. It is unclear to this writer how Mitsubishi’s executives thought this was even remotely good pricing.
Driving Differences
2027 Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback from the front three-quarter angleMitsubishi
At this point, maybe you’re thinking that perhaps Mitsubishi is justifying their pricing by providing some perks on the mechanical side. You would be mostly wrong. It produces the same 214 horsepower and 261 lb-ft of torque as the Leaf, charges at the same 150 kW peak DC fast charge rate through an NACS port, and still has the same quirk of also having a J-1772 on the other side for Level 1 and Level 2 charging. There is one narrow advantage of the Mitsubishi, and that’s range. Because all Eclipse Sportbacks have 18-inch wheels, they all do 282 miles of range.
2026 Nissan Leaf ExteriorNissan/James Lipman
That’s actually six miles lower than the SV+ Leaf, but because the Leaf Platinum+ goes up to 19-inch wheels, its range drops significantly to 259 miles. So Mitsubishi gives you most of the bells and whistles of the top Leaf, but with 23 extra miles of range. You could also just put 18-inch wheels on your loaded Leaf and likely achieve the same thing. But from the factory, it is one badly needed win for the Eclipse Sportback.
The Biggest Difference
2027 Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback from the rear three-quarter angleMitsubishi
Arguably the biggest difference and biggest advantage that Mitsubishi brings is its longer warranty. It sits alongside Hyundai and Kia as the longest warranty in the industry, and it’s a lot better than what Nissan offers. The Leaf comes with the usual 3 years and 36,000 miles of bumper-to-bumper coverage and 5 years and 60,000 miles of powertrain coverage. The Eclipse Sportback nicely eclipses that (sorry, I had to), boasting a 5-year, 60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty and a 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty.
Both include the industry-standard battery coverage of 8 years and 100,000 miles. Mitsubishi’s corrosion warranty is also two years longer at seven years versus five in the Nissan, although Nissan’s is unlimited mileage. Mitsubishi caps its corrosion mileage at 100,000 miles. Finally, Mitsubishi throws in two years or 30,000 miles of complimentary maintenance, which in an EV means just cabin filter changes and tire rotations. But those are things Nissan will charge you for, so it’s another nice perk of the Mitsubishi.
Is It Worth The Price Difference?
2027 Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback from the front three-quarter angleMitsubishi
At the end of the day, it’s hard to make a case for the Eclipse Sportback against the Leaf. The strongest argument is the warranty coverage. For those that keep cars a long time, that alone could be worth the price premium. Otherwise, it’ll only make sense for two tiny groups of people. One group is those looking to save a few miles of range on a fully-loaded car. The other is those who must have a heated steering wheel and/or heated rear seats but don’t want to spend a little more for all the other Platinum+ features, and don’t mind paying $3,635 over the SV+ Leaf for those two features. Lastly, cars are often an emotional purchase, and for some, it’s possible that the Mitsubishi’s styling could be more exciting.
Overall though, the poor pricing really ruins the value proposition of the Eclipse Sportback. That is further compounded by the fact that the Leaf hasn’t been a strong seller, surprisingly, even with high gas prices and it being so good that we even named it our 2026 Car of the Year. That slow-seller status means it’s likely ripe for discounts and deals, something Nissan dealers are no stranger to, which could further widen the gap.
The Eclipse Sportback is fresh and new, so there will be less leverage on pricing for a while unless Mitsubishi comes out swinging with big incentives at the start. Judging by their pricing strategy so far though, I wouldn’t be optimistic about that for now. As a result, the Eclipse Sportback almost seems dead on arrival, and it is absolutely not worth the price difference for the enormous majority of buyers cross-shopping it and the Leaf.
Sources: Mitsubishi, Nissan
