The 2011 Chevy Volt continues to outsell the 2011 Nissan Leaf, but during March, the Japanese battery electric car at last started to move noticeable numbers of cars--almost five times as many as it sold in February.

The two major-manufacturer plug-ins currently on the market sold a total of 906 cars, split between 608 Volts and 298 Leafs. That's up on last month's sales of 281 and 67 respectively.

That brings the cumulative totals to 471 Leafs and 1,536 Volts since the first Leaf was delivered last December, followed three days later by the first Volt.

First 2011 Nissan Leaf delivered to buyer, San Francisco, Dec 2010, photo by Eugene Lee

First 2011 Nissan Leaf delivered to buyer, San Francisco, Dec 2010, photo by Eugene Lee

Meanwhile, small manufacturer Think, in Elkhart, Indiana, sold 27 of its City two-seat electric cars in March, for a total of 95 sold since last December.

That means that almost 2,100 brand-new plug-in electric cars have now found buyers (or lessees).

Within a couple of months, that total will likely have surpassed the total production of electric cars like the Toyota RAV4 EV and the GM EV1 in the late 1990s and early part of this decade.

Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley electric-car startup, does not provide monthly sales figures.

[Chevrolet, Nissan, Think]

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