Its construction began in March 1934 during Nazi rule as a Reichsautobahn, the section between Karlsruhe and Salzburg having been completed by the time road works were discontinued in World War II.

Especially in winter the slopes of the Black Forest, the Swabian Alb near Aichelberg, as well as the Irschenberg become bottlenecks when heavy trucks traverse the A8 uphill.

Other sections in Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate and Munich have two lanes in each direction of travel and follow current Autobahn standards.

At Drakensteiner Hang, between Mühlhausen im Täle and Hohenstadt (Stuttgart - Ulm section), the A8 is divided into separate northbound and southbound routes on either side of the peak.

Near Adelsried (Ulm - Munich section) is the Autobahnkirche ("motorway church") Maria, Schutz der Reisenden ("Mary, patron saint of travellers").

Austria charges tolls for use of its autobahns, so many drivers who do not want to pay for the short section to the border near Salzburg use the Bad Reichenhall or Schwarzbach exits which sometimes causes traffic jams on the local country roads.