It may be hard to believe nowadays, Mitsubishi was once at the forefront of the 21s century’s electric revolution. The Japanese brand’s i-MiEV electric city car debuted in 2009, long before the Nissan Leaf or Tesla Model S, but since then the automaker seems to have forgotten about trying to sell EVs in the US and has let rival brands rush into the space.

But next year Mitsubishi will launch a brand new electric vehicle and it should be a ton more practical, desirable and affordable than the i-MiEV, which on its 2012 American debut had an EPA electric range of 62 miles (100 km), an 80 mph (128 km/h) top speed, a 13-second zero to 60 mph (96 km/h) time, and cost almost as much as a Golf R.

Related: Mitsubishi’s Updated 2025 Outlander Arrives In America In February

Mitsubishi executives revealed to dealers last weekend that its first EV for the US since it pulled the i-Miev in 2017 will arrive on American soil in 2026, according to a report by Auto News. The officials didn’t divulge what form the EV would take but sources told AN they expected it to be a small crossover coupe, similar to Nissan’s 2021 Chill-Out concept seen in the pictures. Anyway, whatever the EV destined for America looks like, the new model will be made in Japan and launch in the second-half of 2026, the report says.

But while an EV will finally give North American Mitsubishi dealers a foothold in a US electric segment that grew 7.3 percent last year, it won’t fix the problem left by the departure of the Mirage subcompact.

The Mirage, which was killed off in December 2024, accounted for almost 30 percent of Mitsubishi’s sales last year, was the brand’s second-best-selling model, and experienced a resurgence as buyers rushed to grab one before the axe fell.

Auto News reports that dealers have enough stock to last them through to the end of summer, but those last few months of 2025 when there are no new Mirages to sell and the next round of models on the way are still distant enough to look like, well, mirages, are going to be much quieter and seriously impact full-year figures.

One solution Mitsubishi is apparently considering is to make more of its existing lineup. The report says Mitsubishi is looking at reducing the price of its Outlander Sport and introducing a lower-price trim option. But, no matter how much de-contenting it might do, it’s nigh impossible to get the price of an Outlander Sport (currently starting at $23,695) down to anywhere near close to the $16,695 asked for the Mirage.