Sales of plug-in electric cars continued their slow climb in June.

The 2011 Nissan Leaf racked up its best U.S. sales number ever while the 2011 Chevrolet Volt sales held steady, as the company had warned they would.

Following a May total of 1,142 sales--the first time more than 1,000 Leafs had been sold--the June sales figure surged again, to 1,708.

That brings total Nissan Leaf sales to 3,875 for the year (plus another 19 sold in December 2010).

The 2011 Volt, on the other hand, logged 561 sales. That's more than its May total of 481, and it brings total U.S. Volt sales for the year to 2,745 (plus 326 more last December).

Nissan Leaf on track at Laguna Seca. Photo via MyNissanLeaf forum member nader.

Nissan Leaf on track at Laguna Seca. Photo via MyNissanLeaf forum member nader.

It's important to keep these numbers in perspective. Sales of both cars reflect not the pent-up market demand for electric cars, but rather the most their factories can produce.

This perspective, sadly, is lacking from some of the less nuanced reporting around electric-car sales.

Other manufacturers selling plug-in vehicles in the U.S. are Smart, Tesla, Wheego, the newly bankrupt Think, and Fisker, which expects to deliver its first cars this month to retail customers.

None of those companies report monthly sales, and their totals are much lower than Leaf and Volt sales.

[Nissan, Chevrolet]

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