It was a year in to driving his daughter to school in his new electric vehicle that Phil Bellamy discovered she dreaded the 10-minute daily ride – it made her feel sick in a way no other car did.
As the driver, Bellamy had no problems with the car but his teenage daughters struggled with sickness every time they entered the vehicle. Research has shown this is an issue – people who did not usually have motion sickness in a conventional car found that they did in EVs.
For Bellamy, 51, his family’s aversion to riding in his car made him wonder at the cause. He tried changing his driving style and even buying a different car but found the issues persisted. His daughters now refuse to travel with him, if possible.
“If we’re going on a journey, they’re absolutely taking travel sickness tablets immediately. They’re not even considering coming in the car without them,” he says.
Bellamy enjoys driving his electric car, which is quieter and smoother compared with the vibrations of a traditional combustion engine car, but hopes manufacturers will consider how to address the concerns of passengers who are affected by motion sickness.
The causes of sickness could include the relatively quick acceleration of EVs compared to fuel vehicles, their regenerative braking systems and a lack of sensory triggers such as engine noise and vibrations when travelling in a car.
Research carried out in China, a big producer of electric cars, found that EVs were associated with more severe motion sickness symptoms than fuel vehicles.
Atiah Chayne, a content creator from London, posted on TikTok about her experiences of car sickness in EVs this summer when she booked Ubers to take her out.
Chayne says “extreme nausea” kicked in very quickly and stopped immediately after she left the vehicle, but it took her a while to realise it happened only in EVs. She now avoids using Ubers as it’s difficult to find one that is not an EV.
Chayne says: “It usually started quickly soon after we moved off. I’d say it got really bad one minute into the journey. I would put the windows down and go on my phone to distract myself,” she says. “The sickness was constantly there throughout the whole journey. If your Uber is 20 minutes away from your destination, you’re counting down the minutes until you get out.”
John Golding, a professor of applied psychology at the University of Westminster in London, says motion sickness specifically affects passengers because it is, in large part, related to being able to anticipate changes in movement.
While drivers have control of the car’s movement, passengers do not – especially those in the back seat – and he thinks this could become more of an issue with the potential introduction of self-driving cars.
He says the car industry is aware of motion sickness issues for some people in EVs and is looking at ways to help passengers anticipate changes in movement, such as vibrations in the car seat that warn the passenger when the car is turning.
Golding says people can also either take motion sickness medication or make behavioural changes. “The simplest thing is to sit in the front to get a view. Avoid moving your head too much, don’t look at your phone or start reading; that makes things much worse. If you can get some fresh air, that will help,” he says.
Backseat passengers have no control over the car’s movements. Photograph: Bsip Sa/Alamy
How to cope with motion sickness
Experts and the NHS suggest behavioural changes, medication and acupressure bands could help.
Sit at the front Knowing what’s going on around you is the best way to avoid motion sickness. It allows you to see and anticipate what will happen next, while in the back the view just flashes past, says Golding.
Try motion sickness medications These come in the form of patches or tablets that can be bought from pharmacies and help control how your brain and body react to movement. They should be taken before travelling.
Wear acupressure bands These are thought to work for some, though research suggests probably through a placebo effect. “Placebo effects can be very, very strong. If they work for an individual, don’t knock it,” Golding says.
Listen to a 100hz sound for a minute. Research from Japan’s Nagoya University suggests the vibrations at this frequency could help by stimulating a part of the inner ear that detects gravity and acceleration.