Electric drive unit simulation

A computer-implemented method of simulating operation of an electric drive unit to predict one or more performance parameters of the electric drive unit is provided. The electric drive unit includes at least an electric motor. The method includes obtaining parameters defining physical properties of the electric motor, obtaining parameters defining drive currents for driving the electric motor, processing the obtained parameters using a machine learning module trained a priori to predict a spatially varying electromagnetic and/or mechanical and/or thermal profile within the electric motor during operation, and providing as output a predicted profile for the electric motor, and using the predicted profile to compute the one or more performance parameters of the electric drive unit.