Note: This article was first published on 8 July 2025.
In Q1 this year, 4 out of every 10 new cars sold were EVs. And with their growing popularity comes an increasing number of people who report feeling sick in the back of one.
According to William Emond, a PhD student studying car sickness at the Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbéliard in France, that feeling of motion sickness stems mostly from a mismatch between sensory cues and actual motion forces being experienced on the body.
He explains:
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.
Because vehicles with internal combustion engines have dominated the experience of most passengers, we are accustomed to the noises that they make and have an idea of what to expect. For example, we have associated the revving of an engine with an impending change in speed.
EVs do not make such noises. Worse, they generally operate in utmost silence. The lack of sensory cues makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the body to brace for changes in motion.
Emond further elaborates:
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, travelling in an EV for the first time is a new motion environment for the brain, which needs adaptation,
A further study in 2024 by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology found that regenerative braking—the technology used in EVs to recover energy—was one of the leading causes of feeling carsick in EVs.
The study found that regenerative braking causes what it calls low-frequency deceleration, in which a vehicle slows down gradually over a longer period, as opposed to more rapidly in traditional ICE cars. The study found that low-frequency deceleration can induce motion sickness.
Personally speaking, I remember feeling carsick during the early days of reviewing EVs. Fortunately, after driving so many, it doesn’t bother me as much. That said, models with heavy brake regeneration continue to upset me, which is why I appreciate it when brands let owners adjust the amount of brake regeneration, like the Deepal S07 that I tested recently.
Source: The Guardian