Why does driving an electric car make you feel sicker than driving a gasoline car?

Electric cars are becoming more and more popular, but many people say they get sick more easily when driving electric cars than when driving gasoline cars. Why is that?

According to experts, the reason why electric vehicles easily cause motion sickness is because they start quickly, are smoother, vibrate less, and easily cause visual disturbances in the vestibular inner ear.

Motion sickness makes people sitting in cars feel dizzy, nauseous and uncomfortable. Experts believe that the main cause of motion sickness is the coordination of two important organs in the body: the visual system that senses movement and the vestibular system that regulates balance. When these two organs send messages to the brain, if there is a conflict, it can cause motion sickness. For example, if the eyes see stillness, while the vestibular system of the inner ear senses movement, motion sickness can occur. Dizziness also occurs if the eyes see movement but the vestibular system of the inner ear thinks it is still.

The difference between expected and actual action causes motion sickness. This is why drivers, who know the vehicle's movements well, are less likely to get motion sickness than passengers, who have a harder time predicting the vehicle's movements.

Another reason why electric cars are more likely to cause motion sickness than gasoline cars is the difference in driving style. With gasoline cars, when the car starts, passengers hear a louder engine noise and increasing vibrations. This makes the vestibular system of the inner ear and the eyes perceive the movement of the car, the two senses coordinate more smoothly and do not conflict.

With electric cars, when the car starts, the engine does not roar or vibrate, the car moves so fast that the passenger's inner ear does not feel the movement, but the eyes see the car moving. Poor coordination of these two senses causes motion sickness.

In addition, electric cars also have a regenerative braking mechanism, passengers can feel the resistance of the car when the car is moving, completely different from gasoline cars. In case the car is set to a high level of regenerative braking, it often creates a phenomenon of sudden braking that can easily cause dizziness.