Immediately after the production of the last ВЛ19, production was switched to the ВЛ22. With an axle load of 21 tons, it was the successor to the СС series. The first 37 series locomotives used the same traction motors as the СС. These locomotives were built with different gear ratios for a maximum speed of 75 or 100 km/h. This resulted in different locomotives for use with freight and passenger trains. After the pre-war machines, production was resumed from 1946 with new traction motors, each with 400 kW. These engines were designated ВЛ22М.
In 1973, a ВЛ22М was additionally equipped with the equipment for operation under 6 kV direct current. This was tested on the Gori - Tskhinvali line, which was electrified with this system as a trial. Four more of these followed later of these locomotives designated ВЛ22И (WL22I). They were all retired in 1980.
A total of 1,543 ВЛ22М had been built by 1958. They were initially used mainly in the area of ВЛthe Transcaucasian Railway, but were later distributed to the entire 3 kV DC electrified network. A large number of the locomotives were also used after the collapse of the Soviet Union in Russia, Georgia and the Ukraine. In the years after the turn of the millennium, they disappeared from mainline service in Russia and the Ukraine and could only be found occasionally on factory railways. Only in Georgia, they could be seen in front of passenger trains in 2015.