Cologne is a beautiful city in Midwest Germany, home to over 1 million people. Contrary to America, German cities are densely packed with narrow alleyways and very little opportunity to park. EV charging stations are a rarity, despite the fact that Germany is currently heavily sponsoring the expansion of their green electric vehicle (EV) activities.
A famous hotel in the heart of Cologne installed two Bender Ebee level 2 charging stations in 2019. These are fed by three-phase AC and are capable of delivery 22KW. Please note that the majority of German households and other larger facilities are connected to a 400/240V three-phase grounded system. Having a three-phase supply for such a charging station is therefore a normal occurrence. Here in the US, that would be more difficult to obtain in households since residential areas usually come with a single-phase 120/240V configuration, where the dryer load of 50A maybe the highest consumer product available on the breaker panel. Overall, US residential level 2 chargers deliver less power, such as 7 or 11KW. Exceptions may apply of course. Industrial buildings and larger hotels in the US do have three phase readily available, here the majority will be most likely equipped with 480V/277V three phase. 208/120V three phase is also often present. The charger installation in Cologne was made possible by utilizing the Bender CC612 charge controllers as these are the core components within the charging station.