A method for controlling an amount of dissipated heat in an electric traction machine of a motor vehicle, wherein a current is supplied to the electric traction machine by a control device, a ratio being specified in the current between a field-forming current and a torque-forming current, which deviates from an optimum ratio for a respective operating point of the power plant, in order to provide a predetermined amount of dissipated heat, the method comprising:
- providing the predetermined amount of dissipated heat by the electric traction machine, designed as a magnet-less three-phase machine, in that a rotor current flowing through a rotor of the three-phase machine is additionally set by the control device, wherein the field-forming current and the torque-forming current are specified in such a way that acoustic interference signals of the three-phase machine are minimized by the ratio, and the rotor current is set in such a way that the predetermined amount of dissipated heat is provided by a combination of the rotor current and the ratio that minimizes interference signals.