Ford CEO predicts that in 15 years most cars for sale will be electrified

In less than 20 years there will be more electrified vehicles on the market than traditional gas-powered cars, Ford CEO Mark Fields told Business Insider during a recent interview.

"Our view is that the industry offerings, 15 years from now, is that there are going to be more electrified offerings than there are internal combustion engines," Fields said.

"So we want to build our reputation around that, we want to build our brand resonance around that...We want to be a leader in this area."

For a company that makes most of its money selling gas-powered trucks and SUVs, this might sound like a stretch. But Fields is serious about growing the company's electrified products and he's making big investments to prove it.

In 2015, Ford announced it was spending some $4.5 billion by 2020 to offer 13 new EV nameplates. Earlier this month, the company revealed seven of those vehicles it plans to launch, including an F-150 hybrid, a Mustang hybrid, and a fully electric SUV with a range of 300 miles per charge.

Ford is not the only automaker making a big play in the EV space. General Motors has already launched its all-electric Chevy Bolt and just about every major car company plans to roll out a long-range electric vehicle in the next five years.

But Ford is also investing in the infrastructure to support these electrified vehicles. Last year, the company partnered with BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen to build out a network of about 400 fast charging sites across Europe.

While the company investing heavily in the space and sees electrification as the future, Fields said that gas powered vehicles won't disappear from the company's lineup anytime soon.

"Fifteen years out, there's still going to be a lot of vehicles on the road that are internal combustion engines, and we are going to be there. We are going to be there for the best ones, giving customers what they want, but at the same time we also want to be there for electrification," Fields said.

To read more about Ford's plans for an electrified future, read BI's full interview with Fields.