The ET22 is a six-axle freight locomotive that can also be used for heavy passenger trains when needed. Developed by Pafawag as their type 201E, it used the electric part from the EU07 mixed-traffic locomotive. With the same 500 kW traction motors, it had a total output of 3,000 kW. Its gearing for a top speed of 125 km/h resulted in a starting tractive effort of 420 kN. Freight trains of 3,150 tonnes could be hauled with 70 km/h and passenger trains of 700 tonnes could be hauled at top speed.

After two prototypes in 1969 and a batch of ten in 1971, large-scale production started in 1972. Different production batches could be distinguished by the position of ventilation grilles and windows on the sides. When production was halted in 1989, 1,183 had been built for PKP. The decline in freight traffic in the eighties meant that they were increasingly used for passenger traffic. For this, they had been modified so that they could control the automatic doors on passenger trains. In addition to the locomotives built for PKP, 23 more were built for Morocco where they were designated E-1000.