Sustainability awareness is on the rise among Czech consumers. One of the ways to promote sustainable consumer behavior is the adoption of alternative transportation options, incl. individual transportation. In Europe, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in particular are seen as the key way forward. The aim of this paper is to analyze perceptions, purchasing motivations, and perceptual barriers of Czech consumers for adoption of BEVs and other new energy vehicles. The paper builds upon a representative sample of 1,000 active car drivers. Key perceptual barriers identified in the research include especially limited experience with new energy vehicles, higher asking price, easy and availability of charging, whereas perceived environmental footprint was found to be the main element possibly contributing to adoption of BEVs. It remains a question, how perceptual barriers evolve over time.