Ionic Materials, a startup based in Woburn, MA, that has developed a solid polymer electrolyte that could replace flammable liquid electrolytes in rechargeable batteries, announced yesterday that it has raised $65 million in new investment, as reported by Andy Rosen in The Boston Globe.

Rosen notes that Bill Joy, a cofounder of Sun Microsystems and an early investor in Ionic Materials, “…can’t believe we’re still carrying volatile power sources around in our pockets.” Rosen quotes Joy as saying, “We’re tolerating it because we’re basically dependent on the technology and it’s too convenient to be safe.”

Rosen writes that Renault Nissan Mitsubishi and Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (where Joy was once a partner) are among Ionic Materials’ backers.

He quotes Mike Zimmerman, a mechanical engineering professor at Tufts University and founder of Ionic Materials, as saying, “I think our approach is really the only approach that can affect all of the important things about batteries.”

Nevertheless, Rosen writes, Ionic Materials faces competition from companies large and small. He reports that Ionic Materials now employs about 30 people and plans to hire more with its new funding.