Why electric cars might be making some passengers feel sick

Lola Baird has just asked her boyfriend to pull over. 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.

Lola isn’t alone. 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.