Tesla headache?

[TeeEmCee]

I have a friend who claims to be sensitive to EMF and gets nauseous riding in any electric car.maybe it’s a thing.

Doubt it. An internal combustion vehicle puts out a pretty strong field inside the cabin as well.
I actually took measurements, a few years ago. With the meter in my lap, while sitting in the driver’s seat with the engine and all the dashboard electronics on, the reading was nearly two orders of magnitude higher than what I had measured standing outside, directly under a 100KV power line.

 

[davedavedave]

I've never had a performance car before, and the ride is stiff for me and it's caused me problems, too.

I found that in addition to the sensitive throttle, my shocks were very stiff in the early weeks and that they also contributed to headaches. Thankfully, they loosened up over time, and I learned to be smoother with the throttle.

 

[davedavedave]

I have a friend who claims to be sensitive to EMF and gets nauseous riding in any electric car.maybe it’s a thing.

LOL - maybe your friend needs a tinfoil hat

Mythbuster: EMF levels in hybrids

 

[JeffK]

I have a friend who claims to be sensitive to EMF and gets nauseous riding in any electric car.maybe it’s a thing.

Your friend needs mental help.

 

[JeffK]

Unrelated to headaches, met a gentleman yesterday who is allergic to his Model 3. He had burn-like dermatitis all over and was asking what the Model 3 seats are made of to tell his dermatologist. Dude must have a polyurethane allergy.

 

[Moose408]

LOL - maybe your friend needs a tinfoil hat

Well she is into crystals and weird foods to align her energy so that was already determined.

 

[Moose408]

Doubt it. An internal combustion vehicle puts out a pretty strong field inside the cabin as well.
I actually took measurements, a few years ago. With the meter in my lap, while sitting in the driver’s seat with the engine and all the dashboard electronics on, the reading was nearly two orders of magnitude higher than what I had measured standing outside, directly under a 100KV power line.

To be fair it may be something else. For example I can hear higher frequencies than the average person and sustained high frequencies give me a headache, perhaps she is hearing the whine of the engine or invertor.. I don't have my car yet, and have spent a total of 10 mins in a Tesla so I don't know if makes any high pitched sounds or not.

Occam's Razor would imply acceleration based upon the examples given here. But if someone drives conservatively and still gets headaches would have to look for other causes.

 

[JeffK]

But if someone drives conservatively and still gets headaches would have to look for other causes.

I'd first determine the type of headache. Is it tension, sinus, migraine, etc. This can help figure out the cause.

 

[StellarRat]

LOL - maybe your friend needs a tinfoil hat

Mythbuster: EMF levels in hybrids

I'm really sensitive to gamma rays.

 

[dougatconcours]

In my experience with new cars in general, I have had several customers get headaches and feel nausea from the "new car smell". Some have even gone a far as running multiple ozone treatments and keeping the car in our shop for weeks to try and get the the car to gas out quicker.

 

[JeffK]

I'm really sensitive to gamma rays.

If TV has taught me anything it's that gamma rays will either kill you or turn you into the incredible hulk. It's kind of a toss up.

 

[Daniel in SD]

In my experience with new cars in general, I have had several customers get headaches and feel nausea from the "new car smell". Some have even gone a far as running multiple ozone treatments and keeping the car in our shop for weeks to try and get the the car to gas out quicker.

I've also heard of new car smell causing headaches. I had a coworker who thought his new car's ride quality was making him nauseous to the point where he was about to return the car. He then discovered that the problem went away when he drove with the window open.

 

[DanL3]

Chill Mode man. My wife complained until I found Chill Mode.

 

[Jedi2155]

Doubt it. An internal combustion vehicle puts out a pretty strong field inside the cabin as well.
I actually took measurements, a few years ago. With the meter in my lap, while sitting in the driver’s seat with the engine and all the dashboard electronics on, the reading was nearly two orders of magnitude higher than what I had measured standing outside, directly under a 100KV power line.

So I see a potential error here, there's two types of EMF (B fields and E fields). The B field is magnetic field related to current, the E field is the electric field related to the voltage. Standing under a 100 kV line would result in a high E field but not a high B field (unless you're actively walking and back and forth away from it. Most people are more concerned about the B field (milligauss) than the E-field (kV/meter) so that's the general focus.

On a funny side tidbit, 1000 milli-gauss = 1 gauss. 10,000 gauss = 1 Tesla. We are driving magnetic bombs everywhere!

To be fair it may be something else. For example I can hear higher frequencies than the average person and sustained high frequencies give me a headache, perhaps she is hearing the whine of the engine or invertor.. I don't have my car yet, and have spent a total of 10 mins in a Tesla so I don't know if makes any high pitched sounds or not.

Occam's Razor would imply acceleration based upon the examples given here. But if someone drives conservatively and still gets headaches would have to look for other causes.

While the off-gasing is the most likely cause of the headache, I can imagine the switching frequency of power electronics and the motors generating headache inducing sounds too. So that is not crazy IMO.

 

[Moose408]

So picked up my car this morning. Drove 25 miles to stop and have lunch and was feeling very nauseous at lunch. I'm still getting used to the regenerative braking and thought it could be related to the motion of the car. But also noticed that the new car smell is VERY strong. Drove home with the windows down but it was a short trip so inconclusive.

A few hours later I went and sat in the car while configuring things and playing with it. Ended up spending an hour in the car and when I got out I was nauseous again and had a headache. So for me it definitely seems to be related to the out-gassing. Will drive around with the windows down for the next week to see if I can speed up the process.

 

[JeffK]

So picked up my car this morning. Drove 25 miles to stop and have lunch and was feeling very nauseous at lunch. I'm still getting used to the regenerative braking and thought it could be related to the motion of the car. But also noticed that the new car smell is VERY strong. Drove home with the windows down but it was a short trip so inconclusive.

A few hours later I went and sat in the car while configuring things and playing with it. Ended up spending an hour in the car and when I got out I was nauseous again and had a headache. So for me it definitely seems to be related to the out-gassing. Will drive around with the windows down for the next week to see if I can speed up the process.

Sorry it causes a headache for you... I LOVE that smell.

 

[derkan]

Things that cause me headache/nausea:
- new car smell
- the windshield on sunny days somehow feels glare-ier than other cars.
- looking down at my phone (passenger seat)
- whining noise

The regen can be reduced in a setting for drivers who use the accelerator pedal as an on/off switch. Makes it feel more like coasting. That plus chill mode plus TACC with long following distance (4 or more) feels pretty smooth to me. But that's not how I drive now

 

[ngogas]

@derkan simple solution to solve all your side. Drive with the window down and head out the window. Lol.

 

[Need]

Things that cause me headache/nausea:
- new car smell
- the windshield on sunny days somehow feels glare-ier than other cars.
- looking down at my phone (passenger seat)
- whining noise

The regen can be reduced in a setting for drivers who use the accelerator pedal as an on/off switch. Makes it feel more like coasting. That plus chill mode plus TACC with long following distance (4 or more) feels pretty smooth to me. But that's not how I drive now

You need this
https://www.amazon.com/Reliefband-1-5-Motion-Morning-Sickness/dp/B00PG4NUOS?th=1

 

[Waltjo]

If you're concerned about high frequency audio you can install a (poor man's) spectrum analyzer on your phone . I use "SpecScope" on my android phone. I don't know exactly how accurate it is across the band but it works to pick out peaks up ~25kHz, so I can find sounds that I would never hear.

Suggest you use it in the, then try changing speeds, regent, etc. You can also compare the Tesla audio spectrum to another car to get an idea of the difference.