Motor unit having a lubricant circuit

A method for the circulation of lubricant in a motor unit having:

• an electric motor and a transmission, which are mechanically joined together and arranged in a housing;
• a lubricant circuit, which lubricates the electric motor and the transmission;
• a lubricant pump having an outlet and at least two inlets for lubricant, wherein the outlet is connected by conduits to the electric motor and the transmission;
• a lubricant sump, which stores gathered lubricant and is arranged beneath the electric motor and/or the transmission in the housing during use, wherein the lubricant sump has at least two suction points separated from each other in a horizontal direction, and wherein each of the suction points is connected by a respective conduit to a respective one of the at least two inlets of the lubricant pump;
• and a lubricant shell, which is arranged beneath the transmission during use and catches lubricant from the transmission, wherein the transmission comprises at least one transmission gear which dips partly into the lubricant caught in the lubricant shell, wherein teeth of the transmission gear lift lubricant out from the lubricant shell and deliver lubricant directly to the lubricant sump during use, wherein the lubricant sump is situated above the lubricant shell in the vertical direction, the method comprising:
• suctioning of lubricant from the lubricant sump, wherein the lubricant is suctioned from both suction points or from only one suction point by the lubricant pump, wherein the number of suction points used depends on the transverse acceleration acting on the lubricant during use;
• transporting of the lubricant by the lubricant pump to the transmission and to the electric motor through the conduits connected to the transmission and to the electric motor;
• and
• conducting of the lubricant by gravity and/or centrifugal force through the transmission and the electric motor, the lubricant being caught in the lubricant sump after the lubricant passes through.