The invention relates to an electric motor comprising a rotor, a stator (1) and an electronic housing (12), the installation space (13) of which accommodates electrical/electronic components (18). At least part of these components (18) is seated on a printed circuit board (19). A fan wheel (21) is located inside the installation space. It is arranged and designed in such a manner that it generates a cooling circuit stream in the installation space (13), in which the air is drawn in centrally from the fan wheel (21) and is discharged approximately radially to the outside. As a result of this defined cooling air stream, the components (18) are evenly cooled in the installation space (13). The fan wheel (21) consists at least of a base body which comprises blades (22) located between a cover disc (24) and a base disc (23). In this way, the fan wheel (21) generates a directed cooling air stream for cooling the heat-generating components.