Electric Propulsion System Having Integrated Electrical and Thermal Architecture and Related Methods of Operating and Implementing Same

A method of operating an electric propulsion system, the method comprising:

• providing the electric propulsion system, wherein the electric propulsion system includes an electric motor, a motor drive, and a thermal management subsystem by which at least a first portion of the electric motor and at least a second portion of the motor drive are cooled,
• wherein the electric motor is a permanent magnet synchronous motor and wherein the motor drive is coupled to the electric motor and includes each of an inverter including a plurality of wide bandgap semiconductor field effect transistors (FETs), and a controller coupled at least indirectly to the FETs and configured to control the FETs by way of pulse width modulation (PWM) control;
• and
• cooling at least one portion of the electric propulsion system by way of one or both of liquid convection and evaporative heat transfer.

An electric propulsion system comprising:

• an electric motor including
• an annular motor housing including a plurality of first fins arranged along a first exterior surface of the annular motor housing,
• a plurality of motor components including a plurality of laminations, and
• a plurality of heat pipes extending substantially between the laminations and the annular motor housing at or proximate to the first fins;
• and
• a motor drive coupled to the electric motor, the motor drive including
• an annular motor drive housing including an internal chamber and a plurality of second fins arranged along a second exterior surface of the annular motor drive housing,
• a plurality of electronics components positioned within the internal chamber and including one or more control electronics components and one or more power electronics components, and
• coolant positioned within the internal chamber so as to be in contact with the electronics components and with the annular motor drive housing at or proximate to the second fins,
• wherein, during operation of the electric propulsion system, first heat is transported by the heat pipes away from the laminations for receipt by the first fins, and second heat is communicated by the coolant away from the electronics components for receipt by the second fins, the first heat being carried away from the first fins and the second heat being carried away from the second fins due to air flow passing along the electric propulsion system.