Holden Volt will sell under $60,000

The price slots the Volt in between the V6 and V8 Calais V Commodore sedan models. Holden staffers say the plug-in electric vehicle will arrive in the last quarter of the year and early-adopters can order now.

The Volt -- which has an electric-only range of nearly 90km but extended to 600km using the on-board engine -- will be in one model specification but also brings a forward collision alert and lane departure warning safety systems to the Holden stable for the first time.

Keyless entry and start, eight airbags, front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and touchscreen satellite navigation are also among the Volt's features. The infotainment system has a 30gb inbuilt hard drive linked to a six speaker BOSE that uses Bose Energy Efficiency Series speakers that require 50 per cent less energy to run.

Holden's sales and marketing executive director John Elsworth said Holden had chosen to launch the Volt in with a strong features list.

"Volt will offer some of the most advanced electric vehicle technologies in Australia and has won a long list of awards and fans around the globe,'' he said. Mr Elsworth said the Volt would prove electric cars don't need to be quirky and had what buyers expected from Holden.

"It will have real appeal to buyers looking to drive the latest in technology, without having to compromise on either range or functionality. "With all of the standard premium features, Volt makes a very compelling choice for car buyers who may not have considered an electric car before or may be looking at premium European vehicles,'' he said.

The company has also revealed a fixed-price servicing program for the Volt - $185 for the first four standard scheduled log book services for the first three years or 60,000km, whichever comes first. Holden also confirmed there would be a transferable eight year/160,000km warranty on the Volt battery, charging and electric drive components.