a rotor, which is rotatable about an axis of rotation, by which an axial direction of the electric machine is defined;

a stator, which includes stator windings;

a coolant distributor space;

a coolant collector space arranged axially spaced apart from the coolant distributor space,

wherein the coolant distributor space for cooling the stator windings fluidically communicates with the coolant collector space with at least one cooling passage through which a coolant can flow,

wherein the stator has stator teeth extending along the axial direction and arranged spaced apart from one another along a circumferential direction, which carry the stator windings and which project from a stator body of the stator radially to the inside,

wherein between two stator teeth that are adjacent in the circumferential direction a stator slot each is formed, which includes a radially outer slot zone which, radially to the inside, away from the stator body, merges into a radially inner slot zone, the radially inner zone width measured along the circumferential direction is smaller than the radially outer zone width of the radially outer slot zone measured along the circumferential direction,

wherein at least one stator winding for the thermal coupling is embedded in an electrically insulating plastic within the stator slots,

wherein the at least one cooling passage extends in the stator slot at least in portions, where it is bounded by the electrically insulating plastic and within the stator slot, in a cross-section perpendicularly to the axial direction, and is arranged entirely in an area of the radially inner slot zone,

wherein the radially outer slot zone and the radially inner slot zone define a transition from the radially outer to the radially inner slot zone, and

wherein the transition is formed as a step in the cross-section perpendicular to the axial direction.