As a supplement to the six-axle Dragon, Newag developed a four-axle locomotive from 2010, which was initially to be given the name “Elephant”. First plans included a variant for service under 3 kV DC with a top speed of 140 km/h and a multi-system variant with a top speed of 200 km/h. During development, it was renamed „Griffin”. The locomotives comply with the current EU crash standards and have modern electronic equipment. The cabs contain multifunction displays and cameras are used to replace the rear-view mirrors and monitor the area around the couplers. Siemens also equips them with the necessary equipment for running under ETCS Level 2.

A DC-only variant for mixed traffic with a top speed of 160 km/h is the E4DCU. Optionally, it is being offered with a 380 kW last-mile diesel as E4DCUd. The faster passenger-only variant with a top speed of 200 km/h was only built as multi-system variant that can not only be used under 3 kV DC, but also under 15 and 25 kV AC. This is being designated E4MSP. Newag offered the pure AC variants E4ACU and E4ACP, but no orders followed. A proposed diesel variant was the D4MSU with a 2,300 kW engine.

PKP Intercity started to place several orders for the E4DCU and E4MSP from 2021. Depending on their top speeds, these variants are being called EU160 and EU200. To date, PKP operates 96 EU160 and production of 78 EU200 is still running. Other operators of small numbers are Lotus Kolej and Orlen KolTrans.