Can I use regular gas in the 2020 platinum Explorer?

Probably not. I'm sure Ford wants you to use premium for a reason. Premium burns cleaner and hotter than the lower grades. In fact I use premium in everything except my truck. It's a beater. People will tell you it's a waste of money and so on. But I can tell you that I've never had a fuel system problem that I didn't inherent by buying a used vehicle! If the problem is the price you can add a bottle of octane booster to each fill up. Hope that helps! Jim

The engine computer will retard timing when it detects a knock condition due to using regular instead of premium. This will reduce performance and MPG. It won't damage the engine but it won't save you any money due to the reduced performance.

Use what Ford recommends. Your dealer could deny warranty coverage if they figured out you were using the wrong fuel.