The first order was made in 1956 with the first delivery in 1959 (unit 271) followed by unit 270 in 1962 and 273 in 1963. In 1965, the Ae 4/4 n° 253 and n° 254 have been permanently coupled together and transformed in Ae 8/8 n° 274. In 1966 the same happened with Ae 4/4 n° 255 and n° 256 and the construction of unit Ae 8/8 n° 275.

The nickname for this locomotive is "Munis" ("the bull").

Unit n° 274 was deregistered in 1995 following a fire and has been demolished the year after. Same happened with units n° 271 and n° 272 while units n° 273 and n° 275 have been used during constructions works for the Lötschberg tunnel. Since 2004 unit n° 273 is classified as historic vehicle. Unit n° 275 was briefly exposed at the Swiss Transport Museum in Lucerne until 2006 when it returned to BLS. The unit is partially demolished and serves as spare parts for historic locomotives Ae 4/4 n° 271 and Ae 8/8 n° 273.