More than a few studies have claimed that all-electric vehicles may be creating more instances of motion sickness.
“Greater sickness in EVs can be attributed to a lack of previous experience, as both a driver and as a passenger, where the brain lacks accuracy in estimating the motion forces because it relies on previous experience in other types of cars,” William Emond, a PhD student researching car sickness at the Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbéliard in France, recently explained to The Guardian .
This feels a little counterintuitive on the surface. Motion sickness typically occurs when the brain receives conflicting information from your physical senses. However, it’s most commonly experienced on a plane when there is a surplus of turbulence. The same thing happens on a boat in rough waters. People not normally subject to motion sickness will sometimes want to toss their cookies when being taken around a racetrack as a passenger, too.
With the above in mind, it would seem like an automobile that didn’t create a surplus of conflicting sensory inputs would actually create fewer instances of motion sickness. But it looks as though humans have spent enough time with traditional combustion vehicles to anticipate certain physical inputs as if they were normal — at least that’s what the studies have claimed.
From The Guardian:
Though EVs are becoming more popular, combustion cars still dominate. Riders have a longer history with gas cars and so have had more time to adapt to their specific cues. If a person has spent most of their life driving a combustion engine car, their brain anticipates acceleration after the rev of the engine, a warning that they are about to experience a change in speed. In a battery-powered car, the electric motor makes no such noises.
In addition to general unfamiliarity, research has found links between specific features common to electric vehicles and motion sickness. One 2024 study concluded that there were strong correlations between motion sickness severity and the seat vibrations of electric vehicles, while a 2020 study found that the lack of engine sound in an EV might be a major contributing factor to increased feelings of carsickness.
“If we are accustomed to traveling in non-EVs, we are used to understanding the car’s motion based on signals such as engine revs, engine vibrations, torque, etc. Yet, traveling in an EV for the first time is a new motion environment for the brain, which needs adaptation,” Emond explains.
Regenerative braking, which is common on all-electric vehicles, was likewise said to be a major factor. This can create prolonged instances of braking whenever the driver lifts their foot off the accelerator, something that’s not normally experienced within gasoline-powered vehicles. If a combustion car is decelerating it’s because the driver is making a conscious decision to slow down and likely to be short lived. One Chinese study from 2024 even claimed that this might be the biggest factor of what makes people carsick in EVs.
Other studies claimed it was engine noise that was the determining factor. In 2020, researchers examined how piping in audio cues helped alleviate motion sickness in some passengers. While the results seemed to indicate it made a difference they likewise weren’t wholly conclusive.
Anecdotally, I’ve even heard a couple of drivers claim that electronic steering racks were creating instances of motion sickness while they were behind the wheel on a twisty road. The assumption here is that the more artificial feedback being provided (vs something that boasts a mechanical connection to the tires) creates the same kind of sensory disconnect that leads to motion sickness. The introduction of screens (rather than analog instrumentation) has similarly increased instances of eye strain, which can create headaches that can promote the feeling of being carsick.
That could mean that the issue isn’t so much all-electric vehicles exacerbating motion sickness but rather the physical disconnect created by modern cars in general. Obviously, this would still put EVs at the top of the heap in terms of the potential hurl factor. However, occupants may also be suffering in combustion vehicles that produce artificial feedback as they’ve likewise been digitized.
The industry is presently testing features it believes will help mitigate the problem. Vibrating seats have been used to massage drivers or alert them to potential hazards. Researchers have suggested this could also be used to simulate traditional drivetrains, help offset unpleasant sensations created by regenerative braking. The University of Michigan is currently testing one such seat that allegedly ” predicts the motions of the vehicle and acts preemptively to counteract the effect of the vehicle’s motion on the passenger’s body” by tilting. Interactive screens have also pitched (though I cannot imagine how that wouldn’t worsen the issue), as were certain forms of ambient lighting. However, this would all undoubtedly add further unnecessary complexity and cost to vehicles.
The solution will likely be in identifying the sweet spots. Obviously, having vehicles that rattle people’s bones upon startup and bounce them around violently at moderate speeds would need just as many barf bags in the glovebox as that eerily quiet EV that makes you want to pop a Dramamine after a few miles. Some of the researchers likewise assume that humanity will gradually adapt to sensory gaps created by EVs.
“When discovering a new motion environment, the brain needs to habituate because there is no knowledge of previous experience in such a context. This is, for example, why almost everyone becomes sick in zero-gravity environments,” Emond said.
[Images: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock; Parkin Srihawong/Shutterstock]
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