Method for Operating a Drive Axle for a Motor Vehicle, Control Unit, Drive Axle, and Motor Vehicle

A method for operating a drive axle for a motor vehicle, in which a rotor shaft of an electric traction machine and a gear drive element of a gear device are non-rotatably connected to one another, a gear output element of the gear device and a wheel drive shaft being couplable to one another and decouplable from one another via a coupling device, the method comprising:

• recording a driving condition variable that characterizes a current driving situation, the driving condition variable being taken as a basis for ascertaining a coupling probability value K and,
• using the electric traction machine to match a speed of the gear output element to a wheel drive shaft speed, if the coupling probability value K is greater than a limit value G, independently of whether a coupling process is subsequently started in which the gear output element and the wheel drive shaft are non-rotatably coupled to one another.