A number of variations may include a method of assembly of a rotor and a stator having a concentric air gap in an electric motor comprising: providing inflatable gap support tooling in a deflated state in an air gap between a rotor and a stator; filling the inflatable gap support tooling with a fluid so that it uniformly fills at least a portion of the air gap between the stator and the rotor and holds the stator and the rotor together as a single unit; placing the single unit into a motor assembly; seating a plurality of bearings into the motor assembly; locking the stator into place in the motor assembly; removing the fluid from the inflatable gap support tooling; and removing the inflatable gap support tooling from the motor assembly.