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Why electric cars might be making some passengers feel sick

Why electric cars might be making some passengers feel sick

bbc.co.uk 03.10.2026 04:36 5 views
Motion sickness is caused by a mismatch in sensory cues and women and children are more susceptible, experts say.

Forty minutes into a journey and she's feeling "overwhelmed" by nausea - and can't stop herself throwing up on the ground next to his car. Lola, 24, from north London, had never experienced motion sickness until her boyfriend bought an electric vehicle (EV) two years ago. Ever since, she's been feeling "very nauseous" when he takes her on long car journeys.

It's become so severe she's even asked him to change his car. Other people told BBC News that they or their children notice feeling more car sick when sitting as a passenger in an electric vehicle. But at the same time, many EV drivers say it's not been a concern.

So what could explain these reports of motion sickness? Dr Irene Di Giulio, senior lecturer in anatomy and biomechanics at King's College London whose research includes motion sickness, says research so far suggests some people experience more severe motion sickness in electric vehicles than in non-electric vehicles. It's something Dr Nicholas Hac, a neurologist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago who specialises in dizziness and vertigo, has also heard from some of his patients.

"They just notice that they're much more likely or prone to be motion sick" in electric vehicles, he says. "I've heard about it many, many, many times," he adds, saying about two patients a month specifically reference feeling motion sick in electric vehicles. But research into any possible link is still in its early stages, and some academics say there isn't sufficient evidence to say anything definitive.

Dr Bill Yates, who has researched motion sickness at the University of Pittsburgh, says the body of research is "pretty sketchy at this point". "There's some anecdotal information, but not a lot of really serious, extensive studies done yet," he says. When Mark Quigg was looking at options for a new car last year, an electric vehicle seemed like the best choice because of the lower running costs.

Mark, 45, from Lincolnshire, says his shiny new electric vehicle has been "wonderful" to drive - but he quickly noticed that his nine-year-old daughter's motion sickness got much worse in it. She only used to get motion sick on their 600-mile drives to France during the school holidays, but now he says even the 30-minute trip to the nearest city makes his daughter feel unwell. On one recent journey, he says his daughter even threw up, which had never happened before.

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