Passive oil pump arrangement for cooling an electric motor

A method of passively pumping oil from a gear assembly to an electric motor connected to the gear assembly, the method comprising:

• providing a housing in which the electric motor and the gear assembly are located, the electric motor having a shaft that is rotatably drivable about an axis of rotation, and the gear assembly being rotatably drivable about the axis of rotation by the shaft, the gear assembly including a plurality of gears that are rotatable in a rotational drive direction;
• the shaft rotatably driving the plurality of gears in the rotational drive direction, and the plurality of gears splashing oil into an oil removal opening on an inner wall of the housing that is aligned with the plurality of gears, with the oil removal opening being located between 0 and +90 degrees from a horizontal plane that extends through the axis of rotation on a rotationally upward moving side of the plurality of gears in the rotational drive direction, the oil removal opening having an upper edge that is angled and faces counter to the rotational drive direction;
• capturing the oil via the upper edge of the oil removal opening and directing the oil to an oil delivery channel that extends to a port;
• and
• feeding oil from the port to the electric motor for at least one of cooling or bearing lubrication.