The trains were built jointly by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Tokyu Car, and JR East (Niitsu and Ofuna factories).

The sets were repainted into the same Shonan color scheme of orange and green bodyside stripes as applied to the E231s.

[1] In September 2022, Indonesian state railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) filed for permission to import 348 used E217 series cars between 2023 and 2024 to replace older trainsets in its subsidiary commuter network KAI Commuter.

This request was rejected by the Indonesian Ministry of Industry in January 2023, resulting in domestic controversy.

[45] Following meetings with government ministries, KAI later announced in June 2023 that they would buy new trainsets from Japan and Indonesia instead of used E217 series sets.