Cute vehicle!
You could easily meet your requirements converting it to electric. Direct
drive should work fine over this speed range, and you will require only
modest torque and power due to the light weight and relatively low desired
top speed. Aerodynamics will not affect performance that much at the lower
speeds you require. Battery cost will be lower than most conversions since
you only require around 25 mile range. For your requirements an 8" diameter
motor should be fine - DC or AC.
What you should use depends on your skills/knowledge and budget. Cheapest
approach is too find a salvaged fork lift motor. These are usually series
DC type. There are a number of suppliers of ev parts such as EVsource,
EVWest, and KTA-ev, from whom you can purchase a controller for the motor as
well as other required parts such as DC/DC converter and battery pack
charger.
Cheapest batteries are lead acid "traction" batteries such as those made for
golf carts ("starter" batteries will fail quickly, since they are not made
for sustained higher currents). If you have the budget, it would be much
nicer to use LiFePO4, or "LFP" cells, as they require no maintenance, have
much higher specific energy (more energy per weight), and last longer than
lead acid in ev applications. The above suppliers sell these.
Cost will likely be around $8000 to $12000 depending on component and
battery choices, which will determine how reliable the conversion is. You
can cobble something together for lower cost, using lower quality and used
parts/batteries, but it will be less reliable. I'd suggest using good
quality components and batteries if you want trouble-free operation.
I suggest you look at files here and at the wiki on diyelectriccar on
converting a vehicle to electric to get a better idea of what is required.
Then look at parts available from the suppliers. Also check evalbum.com to
see what types of conversions have been done and the components used. My
car is www.evalbum.com/3060, and the same motor would work fine for your
vehicle. You could use 36 100Ah cells with it to more than meet your
requirements. Or use an 8" DC motor such as Advance DC, or a one from
Netgain and a DC motor controller, for a bit lower cost. Easiest is to
purchase a motor/controller package from one of the suppliers. Purchasing a
used fork lift motor requires doing more homework to learn which type to buy
- depends on how much time and effort you want to spend.
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